AirTalk Nov. 4, 2026

Today's show: AirTalk host Larry Mantle discusses local races and measures, the latest election results, early exit polls, Latino voter turnout and AI's role in the election.

Where local races and measures stand

We check in with Frank Stoltze, LAist civics and democracy correspondent, on the biggest city and county races and measures and where they stand in the vote count.

Analyzing the latest election results in depth

While some of the races both here and across the country are still up in the air, we look at results so far with Sara Sadhwani, associate professor of politics at Pomona College, and Pete Peterson, dean of Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy.

The latest look at early exit polls

Democrats picked up some major wins in historically Republican regions of the country Tuesday night. What issues moved the needle for voters this election? We look at what the exit polls showed with Fernando Guerra, professor of political science and Chicana/o Latina/o studies at Loyola Marymount University, and Caltech professor Michael Alvarez.

What we know about Latino turnout

Research indicates an increase in Latino voter turnout nationwide compared to the 2022 midterms. This comes as issues like immigration and the economy are top of mind for voters. We look at the latest trends with Mike Madrid, Republican political consultant and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, and Gary Segura, UCLA professor and co-founder and president of BSP Research.

This week in AI: How did voters interact with AI this election?

While AI was around for the last election, it's now become engrained in the electoral process. Politicians made use of AI-generated ads, voters leaned on AI for information while filling out their ballots and both AI and data centers became political flashpoints. We look at how AI impacted the election with Tiffany Hsu , New York Times technology reporter, and Adam Berinsky, MIT professor and director of the MIT Political Experiments Research Lab.