State Party Chairmen Take Part in "A Blunt Tell-All from the Campaign Trail" at Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life Event on Nov. 5

AUSTIN, Texas – Oct. 30, 2014 – The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication will host a Post-Election Debriefing on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party; Steve Munisteri, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas; and Christina Sanders, state director of the Texas League of Young Voters; and Cari Christman, executive director of Red State Women will speak on a panel titled "A Blunt Tell-All from the Campaign Trail." Ross Ramsey, executive editor of The Texas Tribune, will serve as moderator.

Other panels include:
"2014 Hot Topics and A Look Ahead Toward 2016"

• Ed Espinoza, executive director of the Texas Research Institute
• Sharon Navarro, associate professor at The University of Texas at San Antonio
• Ross Ramsey, executive editor of The Texas Tribune
• Josh Scacco, assistant professor at Purdue University
• Moderated by: Sharon Jarvis, associate director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life and an associate professor at the Moody College Department of Communication Studies

"The Impact of Digital & Social Media on the 2014 Election" 

• Christina Gomez, digital director of Battleground Texas, recently honored as a Campaigns & Elections magazine 2014 Rising Star
• Vincent Harris, founder and CEO of Harris Media, recently featured in Bloomberg as “The Man Who Invented the Republican Internet”
• Moderated by: Regina Lawrence, director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life and professor at the Moody College School of Journalism​

WHEN: 4-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 (Networking reception and registration take place at 3:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Belo Center for New Media second-floor auditorium, 300 W. Dean Keeton St.

RSVP: New Politics Forum events are open to any young person, undergraduate, or graduate student who is interested in participating. Members of the general public are also welcome to attend this youth-focused event. Registration is required for all attendees. To register, visit http://moody.utexas.edu/strauss/npf/2014-post-election-debriefing.

LIVESTREAMING: The Post-Election Debriefing will be livestreamed to official watch parties across the state. To learn more, email Ann Stehling at astehling@austin.utexas.edu.

BACKGROUND: The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life recently released the Texas Civic Health Index, a study that compared Texas to the other states in our nation in terms of how involved our citizens are in politics and in their communities. The report found that on many measures of civic engagement, Texas ranked at or near the bottom in nearly every indicator of political participation and civic involvement.

The New Politics Forum's Post-Election Debriefing will bring together journalists, researchers, and campaign professionals to discuss hot topics in the election and what the results mean for the future of civic engagement in Texas.

New Politics Forum events are open to any young person, undergraduate or graduate student who is interested in participating. Members of the general public are also welcome to attend this youth-focused event.

For an agenda, click here.

About the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life
Created in 2000 to respond to growing political cynicism and disaffection in the United States, the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life is named for Annette Greenfield Strauss: former Dallas mayor, community leader and philanthropist. The Institute envisions a democracy in which all citizens are informed, vote and are actively involved in improving their communities. Through nonpartisan research, education and outreach, the Institute seeks to understand and overcome obstacles to civic engagement. To learn more, visit us online at http://annettestrauss.org.

About The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication

One of the nation's foremost institutions for the study of advertising and public relations, communication sciences and disorders, communication studies, journalism and radio-TV-film, The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication is preparing students to thrive in an era of media convergence. Serving more than 4,700 undergraduate and graduate students, the Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. For more information about the Moody College, visit http://moody.utexas.edu.

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Contacts: Nick Hundley, (512) 471-7209; Regina Lawrence, (512) 232-4433.