The surprise political star from the 2020 presidential election was not on the ballot but in front of a results screen, in khakis, on cable news. Steve Kornacki, MSNBC’s national political correspondent and Election Night guru, broke out as a viewer favorite while a captive audience spent hours, then days, waiting for the definitive call. Four years later, Kornacki is back and doing his best to prepare and get a little sleep ahead of another marathon Election Night. We caught up with him to get a sense of how he’ll try to stay sane over the next few days.

Will you have any time off this weekend, and what will you be doing?
Any downtime I have Saturday, it’s the Breeders’ Cup. It’s the biggest day in horse racing, all these championship races down at Del Mar in California. So I’ll be losing money on that.

Will you be going to the races?
I wish. NBC has had me in the coverage the past three years, which has been great. But it was just to try to get back from San Diego the Sunday before the election.

What about your exercise routine? You seem like a runner.
I once was. In my old age now, I’ve become more of a walker. I’m going to go for a long walk Saturday morning and hopefully Sunday, too.

What percentage are you excited versus nervous versus stressed?
Yeah, heavy on the nervous,........

© Daily Intelligencer