The 2024 Post Election Conference: Kansas Panel

Join Dole Fellow Jonathan Shorman as he moderates the Kansas Panel of the 2024 Post Election Conference. Shorman will lead a panel that will provide an overview of elections throughout Kansas this year, including the race to become the next representative of the Kansas 2^nd Congressional District, and political realignment that has led eastern Kansas into becoming one of the nation’s leading battlegrounds.

About the Post Election Conference

Held biennially after midterm and general elections, the Dole Institute’s Post Election Conference brings journalists, practitioners, and experts together to analyze campaigns and election results in Kansas and throughout the country.

Jonathan Shorman is The Kansas City Star’s lead political reporter, covering Kansas and Missouri government. Shorman has spent more than a decade covering politics in both states, including previously at The Wichita Eagle. He was part of a team of Eagle reporters who won the 2019 George Polk Award for political reporting.

Eric Pahls is a Vice President at Big Dog Strategies, managing election campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels. Most recently, he assisted in the campaign of Representative-elect Derek Schmidt (R-KS). Pahls is also an alum of the University of Kansas and the Dole Institute Student Advisory Board.

Cole Robinson is a Prairie Village native and ’06 graduate of the University of Kansas. After playing poker professionally and trading financial markets through his 20s and early 30s, he moved on to politics starting in 2016, as campaign manager for Johnson County Chairman Mike Kelly and Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers. Currently, Cole serves as the Executive Director of the Johnson County Democratic Party.

Lisa Rodriguez became news director at KCUR in 2020, after holding many other roles at the station: newscaster, city hall reporter and talk show producer. Born in Santiago, Chile, Lisa was named Editor of the Year by the Public Media Journalists’ Association in 2023.