Political junkies weren’t the only ones who had a busy week. Consider what America’s investor class experienced. On Monday, not quite knowing what the following day would bring, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 200 points – a nice change from a volatile October.

Stanford-affiliated policy experts and political science professors gathered in the Hoover Institution’s David & Joan Traitel Building on Thursday to discuss the 2018 midterm election outcomes, voter turnout, gerrymandering and increasing polarization in America’s political landscape.

The election of Gavin Newsom as California governor has pole-vaulted the former San Francisco mayor into one of the oddest political positions in the country. “As one of the nation’s leading Democrats, Newsom will be bashing Donald Trump by day but praying for Trump’s re-election in 2020 at night — because if Trump doesn’t get re-elected, Newsom’s presidential aspirations will go up in smoke,” said Bill Whalen, a Republican strategist and research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

In a recent editorial, Stanford professors Adam Bonica and Michael McFaul endorsed A Day Off For Democracy — a campaign to give Americans paid time off on Election Day. Why does America vote on Tuesdays, and what other alternatives might there be? Here are seven things you should know about the timing of Election Day.