Leah Wright Rigueur, a CNN correspondent and established scholar on race and election consideration, spoke at Quinnipiac University’s Critical Conversations Speaker Series on Oct. 31. 

Wright Rigueur discussed “The Past and Present of the 2024 Presidential Election.” 

Charles Collier Jr., the founding assistant dean for equity, inclusion and diversity and director of health career pathways at the Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter School of Medicine, moderated the discussion. 

The Critical Conversations Series discusses various topics, giving attendees a space to listen and participate in meaningful and intellectual conversations. 

“Information, as I often say, is truly the currency of a well-ordered democracy,” said David Fryson, interim vice president of equity and inclusion. “And it’s an important element in establishing an atmosphere or respectful and positive dialog for our nation after the election.” 

Wright Rigueur has numerous other accomplishments under her belt. She wrote the  award-winning book “The Loneliness of the Black Republican.” Wright Rigueur’s writing and commentary have been featured in several different media outlets including MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, CBS, NPR, The New York Times, Washington Post, C-SPAN and many others.  

On election night, Wright Rigueur will be part of the election analysis team for Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR). 

Wright Rigueur began the event by addressing the audience, creating a framework for the discussion with Collier. She spoke about her background, career and began to discuss past and present elections. 

Wright Rigueur noted the importance of asking questions to deepen one’s understanding, especially during the 2024 election. 

“In the kind of election cycle that we’re having, questions actually do a lot of the work of getting us to these new kinds of analysis,” Wright Rigueur said. 

Wright Rigueur also discussed changes that have recently risen from this election cycle. 

“We are seeing new types of polarization and partisanship,” Wright Rigueur said. “We are seeing new ideas of race and gender and class. But we are also seeing different kinds of intersections, intersections in terms of how race, class and gender play out.”

In the past, it was easier to predict how different demographics would vote. However, with these changes, it has become increasingly more difficult. 

Wright Rigueur has found “dramatic revolutions” in the areas of democracy. 

“Democracy is not a concept that is easy, democracy is something great that we largely take for granted within our country,” Wright Rigueur said. “But actually look a little closer at it, democracy is something that is constantly being remade.”

Technology has changed how people understand American politics, nationally and globally. Wright Rigueur urged the audience to pay close attention to advancements in technology and how they affect the current election. 

The event then moved into questions, beginning with what Wright Rigueur has found most significant about the 2024 election. 

Wright Rigueur has found one problem to be a need for 24-hour cycles seeking to fill air time, but also spinning minor happiness into “a crisis of epic proportions.”

“The reality is that most of these things are relatively irrelevant,” Wright Rigueur said. “In the grand scheme of things, there’s a lot of noise and there’s a lot of chatter.”

Wright Rigueur has also found significance in growing differences between Americans that have college education and Americans that do not. 

“There is a direct correlation between polar political partisanship and the kind of politics of policy that you support and education attainment,” Wright Rigueur said. 

Wright Rigueur later delved into a precedent being seen today from the standpoint of a historian. She noted similarities to the 1960 presidential election. 

“It was an election that was marked by social unrest, social protest, multiple assassination attempts,” Wright Rigueur said. 

She later explored the differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. 

“The biggest difference I can tell you is that Kamala Harris ran a campaign and Joe Biden did not,” Wright Rigueur said. “And I don’t say that to be flippant or dismissive, but part of what we see in presidential campaigns, particularly where there is an incumbent president, is that it is really really hard to run a campaign hard while also running a country.”

Wright Rigueur discussed the gender gap that is widening. She explained this specifically regarding the aftermath of the Dobbs Decision. 

“For the majority of American women, roughly 80% of American women, they saw the Dobbs Decision as an attack or assault on their reproductive rights,” Wright Rigueur said. 

Wright Rigueur explained that women’s response to the Dobbs Decision is not only policy-driven, but also “rhetoric and engagement in the political process.” 

One member of the audience asked about the impact of presidential candidates’ social media on young voters. 

“One of the best ways to reach young voters and to reach young people is through social media, because young people do not consume traditional media,” Wright Rigueur said. “So there are all of these new social media approaches that the candidates realize.”

Through this event, Wright Rigueur delved into an analysis of the current election season from the perspective of a historian. 

Wright Rigueur is an associate research professor at the Agora Institute and also works in the Department of History at Johns Hopkins University. She was formerly the Harry S. Truman associate professor of American History at Brandeis University and former associate professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.