Every progressive remembers waking up on November 9th, 2016. The question on everyone’s mind was… “What the hell happened?”

Pundits were quick to blame “identity politics” for Clinton’s loss. Recent research suggests this framing may have led voters to be less supportive of women candidates and candidates of color.

That’s why we’re introducing the What The Hell Happened Project, where we will work with academics, practitioners and advocates to explain the 2018 election from beginning to end.

• The Primary Project: analysis of Catalist data to explore the dynamics of 2018 primaries.

• The Something To Run For report: a collaboration with Run for Something exploring why young people are running for office.

• The Blue Wave Agenda Project: an analysis of the issues that are mobilizing the Democratic base using Data for Progress/YouGov Blue polling.

• The What the Hell Happened Project: dozens of academics and practitioners explore an election survey prepared by Data for Progress and fielded by YouGov Blue.

• The Young Voters Project: analysis of youth turnout with NextGen America.

• Race by race analysis from progressive House watchers.