NBC analyst returns to Kentucky to see the teacher who started it all
Steve Kornacki credits a sixth-grade mock election in 1990 with sparking his interest in politics.
By Andrew Yang ·
NBC News analyst Steve Kornacki traveled to Lexington, Ky., this week to cover the Breeders' Cup, a trip that also brings him face to face with Bob Catalini, the former teacher Kornacki credits for his interest in politics. Kornacki is also set to work Election Day coverage, with a livestream starting at 5:30 p.m.
Kornacki's start in politics traces to Catalini's sixth-grade social studies class at Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School in 1990, when Massachusetts had an open gubernatorial race. Catalini held a mock election for his students, and Kornacki volunteered to play Democrat John Silber. He made signs, handed out leaflets, lobbied classmates in the cafeteria and playground, and read about the race.
The mock election went to Silber. The real contest between Silber and Republican William Weld was much closer, with Weld winning the general election. Kornacki said he was "crushed" by the result. After the real election, Catalini walked the class through town-by-town results, which Kornacki said gave him "a framework for the future."
Catalini, now in his 70s and living in Sandwich, described Kornacki as "very driven, very enthusiastic, very inquisitive." A few years later, when Kornacki was at Groton-Dunstable Regional High School, Catalini took a job as athletic director and men's varsity basketball coach and needed a statistician. "Of course it was Steve," Catalini said.
Kornacki has since become a fixture on election nights, appearing on MSNBC's "big board" during the 2020 vote count. He moved from MSNBC to NBC News after MSNBC split from NBCUniversal last year and signed a new deal with NBC. A "Kornacki Cam" YouTube livestream launched earlier this year, and the network plans 13 hours of coverage beginning at 5 p.m. on Election Day.
He also contributes weekly to NBC Sports' Sunday night football coverage, broke down snowboarding events at the 2026 Milan Olympics, and provided a digest of Kentucky Derby history. Kornacki said his interest in horse racing began when his uncle took him to Suffolk Downs in East Boston and Rockingham Park in Salem, N.H. Catalini joined The Real Players Inside The Backstretch, a digital racing outlet founded five years ago by Rasi Harper and Maurice Davis of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
