Just days after President Joe Biden said he would not seek reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination, Harris will visit Houston to address the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) national convention . Rice University political scientist Mark Jones is available to discuss the visit.
“Teachers unions are the backbone of the Democratic party’s turnout machine and are especially influential and important in the more heavily unionized battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,” said Jones, who is a professor of political science at Rice. “While Harris already has the AFT endorsement, she needs the members of the union to be as enthused as possible about her candidacy in these three states, where the winner’s margin of victory could be very narrow.”
Jones also serves as a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His expertise and scholarly work has been widely cited by local, state and national media as well as numerous political campaigns.
To schedule an interview with Jones, call him directly at 832-466-6535 or reach out to Amy McCaig, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 713-348-6777 or amym@rice.edu.