HOME
POWER LINES
STORE
GIFT
ABOUT US
Logo
LOG IN
SUBSCRIBE
Logo
SUBSCRIBE

The Kornacki Calculus

Ahead of his election night marathon, NBC News’ data chief spoke to Status about navigating the polarized media landscape, the rise of prediction markets, the possibility of a polling miss, and more.

Oliver Darcy
Oliver Darcy

Nov 3, 2026

The Kornacki Calculus

The Kornacki Calculus

Ahead of his election night marathon, NBC News’ data chief spoke to Status about navigating the polarized media landscape, the rise of prediction markets, the possibility of a polling miss, and more.

Oliver Darcy
Oliver Darcy

Nov 3, 2026

The Kornacki Calculus

Steve Kornacki is about to embark on another election night marathon.

As America heads to the polls Tuesday, the NBC News data guru will once again take his place at the network's famed Big Board, crunching numbers and dissecting county-by-county results as the balance of power in Washington hangs in the balance. Kornacki will be doing more than just appearing on linear television. He'll also be streaming for hours on the "Kornacki Cam," offering political junkies an even deeper dive into the data.

Ahead of the high-stakes midterms, I caught up with Kornacki to discuss how he's preparing for the long night, the challenges of delivering election results in a polarized media environment, and whether prediction markets actually offer viewers anything of value. Kornacki also weighed in on the possibility of another polling miss, Donald Trump's potential reaction to NBC's coverage, and how he navigates the increasingly fraught information landscape.

Below is our Q&A, which we conducted via email.

The rest of this story is for paid subscribers only.

Unlock the Rest

Already a subscriber? Sign in.

Scoop-driven reporting and sharp-edged analysis. See why The Wall Street Journal declared Status a “must-read.”

Keep reading

VIEW MORE
caret-right
About Us
arrow-right
Archive
arrow-right
Go Premium
arrow-right
Quick Links

Home

Power Lines

Archive

Shop

Gift

About Us

Advertise With Us

Authors

Oliver Darcy

Jon Passantino

Natalie Korach

Brian Lowry

Status is the definitive nightly briefing that cuts through the noise to inform readers about what is really happening in the corridors of media power.

© 2026 Status News Inc..
beehiivPowered by beehiiv