Dole Institute Visiting Fellow Jerry Seib hosts new WSJ bipartisan polling team; will author new Bob Dole biography

February 18, 2026 - News

Jerry Seib served as a Dole Fellow in Fall 2022 and was named a Visiting Fellow in Fall 2023. He’ll return to the Institute this spring to moderate a discussion on the upcoming Midterm Election with pollsters John Anzalone and Adam Geller. Photo by Ann Dean.

LAWRENCE, KS – The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas today announced Dole Institute Visiting Fellow Jerry Seib will return to the Institute this spring to moderate “Inside the Electorate: A Bipartisan Look Ahead to the 2026 Midterms,” on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. The conversation with pollsters John Anzalone and Adam Geller will provide insight into the nation’s mood ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections through their surveys and extensive experience. It is the pair’s debut joint appearance since being named The Wall Street Journal’s new bipartisan polling team.

Seib, an alum of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at KU, reported for The Wall Street Journal for nearly 45 years. He served as its Executive Washington Editor and authored the weekly “Capital Journal” column for 29 years. During his tenure, Seib also reported from the Middle East, covered the White House, and moderated three presidential debates. He has interviewed every president since Ronald Reagan.

Seib served as a Dole Fellow in Fall 2022 and was named a Dole Institute Visiting Fellow in Fall 2023, thanks to ongoing support by the Simons Family Fund.

Anzalone, one of the nation’s leading Democratic pollsters, is the founding partner of Impact Research. A veteran of Democratic politics, he served as the chief pollster for President Joe Biden in 2020. He also polls for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Roy Cooper’s 2026 U.S. Senate race (NC), and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (CA). John also conducts public opinion research for many Fortune 500 companies, as well as national associations and advocacy groups such as the AARP.

Geller is the chief executive of the polling and political research firm National Research, Inc. Active in numerous Republican campaigns over the years, Adam served as a pollster for President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Trump-aligned super PACs during the 2020 and 2024 presidential election cycles. He’s also worked with many congressional, senatorial, and gubernatorial campaigns, and works with corporate, public relations, and C-suite executives to provide political insights and strategies.

Seib will also conduct research for a new biography of the late Senator Bob Dole. It is the first major biography of Senator Dole to utilize the archival collections at the Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archives and Special Collections. The untitled project will be published in 2027 by HarperCollins, publishers of Bob Dole’s 2005 autobiography One Soldier’s Story.

Detailed information on Seib’s Feb. 26 program can be found at doleinstitute.org. All programs, which are free and open to the public, will take place at the Dole Institute and can be streamed live on the Institute’s website and YouTube channel. Members of the media wishing to attend this program or interview guests are asked to contact Jackson DeAndrea at jackson.deandrea@ku.edu to make arrangements.

About the Dole Institute
The Dole Institute of Politics promotes a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement, inspired by the leadership legacies of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation.

For More Information:
Jackson DeAndrea, Dole Institute of Politics
jackson.deandrea@ku.edu
(785) 864-4900