Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of Political Science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently presented a guest online lecture, “Disinformation in U.S. Presidential Elections,” to Sciences Po University, Paris, France. The talk was derived from portions of Dr. Farnsworth’s recently published co-authored book, Producing News in a Time of Disinformation: Information Evaluation Strategies for Journalists and News Consumers.
In addition, other recent media mentions for Farnsworth include:
Political expert weighs in on Trump-Putin call, partial Russia-Ukraine ceasefire deal (CHCH)
“Well, I do think it is a good start in what has been a horrific war on both sides,” said Stephen Farnsworth. https://www.chch.com/chch-news/political-expert-weighs-in-on-trump-putin-call-partial-russia-ukraine-ceasefire-deal/
Spanberger submitted twice the number of signatures that Sears did — 40,000 to 20,000. But University of Mary Washington Political Science professor Steven Farnsworth said that may speak more to Virginia Republicans’ preference for conventions and other systems to pick their nominees instead of an open primary; they just don’t have the signature collection infrastructure that Democrats do. But he doesn’t think the number of signatures is all that important anyway. https://www.wvtf.org/news/2025-03-17/virginia-statewide-candidates-submit-signatures-to-get-on-the-ballot
Democrats start angling for 2028 and experimenting with new approaches to voters (The Washington Times)
“The Democrats have a significant challenge right now in finding out what the party stands for,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “That may be a debate that continues into the 2028 Democratic nomination contests.” https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/mar/18/democrats-start-angling-2028-experimenting-new-approaches-voters/
RICHMOND — In a Virginia election year, it might seem as though the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce and gut federal spending would create stiff headwinds for the president’s fellow Republicans who are running for governor. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/17/virginia-trump-youngkin-maga-winsome/
Around Prince William: DOGE’s domino effect on our economy (InsideNOVA)
To that end, the committee is hosting a non-partisan panel, “the Domino effects of DOGE,” next week to explore how to mitigate its impact on Prince William. The event will be moderated by Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington. https://www.insidenova.com/opinion/around-prince-william-doge-s-domino-effect-on-our-economy/article_c6c705f2-00f5-11f0-a6c9-03b188ea824a.html
Democrats Seize on Enthusiasm Gap in 2025 Virginia House Races (Virginia Mercury; News on the Neck)
But Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, also sees the surge of Democratic candidates in Virginia’s 2025 elections as part of a broader trend fueled by voter anger and dissatisfaction with the party in power. “Virginia elections are all about angry voters,” Farnsworth said. “The party that loses the White House is energized for elections the following year in a way that the party that won the White House is not so energized. Democrats in 2017 had a recruitment bonanza with many motivated candidates requiring many primaries. It looks like 2025 is also going to be a peak year for Democrats running for office.” https://virginiamercury.com/2025/03/13/democrats-seize-on-enthusiasm-gap-in-2025-virginia-house-races/
https://www.newsontheneck.com/news/state/democrats-seize-on-enthusiasm-gap-in-2025-virginia-house-races/article_630e7826-d7f3-57de-8e97-969b792feeab.html
Virginia’s Major Political Parties Both Enter 2025 Election With New Leadership (WVTF)
With all 100 House of Delegates seats and the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General’s offices on the line, University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth said both parties want to make an example out of Virginia ahead of 2026. https://www.wvtf.org/news/2025-03-12/virginias-major-political-parties-both-enter-2025-election-with-new-leadership
From Tariffs to DEI, Trump is Shaping Virginia’s Campaign for Governor (Roanoke Times; The News & Advance; Culpeper Star-Exponent)
“The main thing you want to avoid doing in March is saying things you’ve got to defend in the fall,” said Steve Farnsworth, a political scientist and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.https://roanoke.com/article_a336134d-d7f0-5b71-a806-40b7094c858a.html
https://newsadvance.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_6232bb59-e173-5135-93eb-3fa73036a91d.html
https://starexponent.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_70e145fa-42a5-5b6a-87ab-f37c47d96c80.html