Thank goodness the US midterm elections are now over, but for a few races still too close to call. It was very hard to endure all the political ads on TV and flyers in the mail. This time around I paid little attention on election night to ongoing projections, having developed a phobia to the nerve-wracking needle gauges deployed by the New York Times in 2016 for the presidential election.
“The negativity expressed towards the jitter was a visceral reaction to the anguish caused by the increasing uncertainty of the outcome, heightened by the shocking twist in events during the night.”
– Andy Kirk, 11/14/2016, Visualizing Data post on Gauging Election Reaction Gauging Election Reaction
The Times resurrected the needle for the 2020 elections, but (thank goodness) they quelled the jitter as reported by Mark Wilson of Fast Company in his 2/3/20 blog The most hated data visualization in politics is back to spike your blood pressure.
The needle used for the 2026 elections is displayed in this video by Nate Cohn, chief political analyst for the Times.
I freely admit not being a fan of actual needles—doing best by not looking when getting my annual shots for flu and Covid. But after seeing this more stable virtual needle for gauging candidates’ chances in real time, I hope to overcome my phobia and give it a try for the 2028 elections.
PS: I wonder who will be running for President. There are a lot of possibilities right now!