30 Experts Available on 2024 Election in Key Swing States

Key topics: racial/ethnic politics, women in politics, and health policy.

Wright studies how representation and policy outcomes are influenced by social identities, such as race/ethnicity, gender, and class. She regularly applies intersectionality in her work, which centers on power and the effects of being comprised of multiple marginalized identities. Her recent Working Papers examine how social identities influence the public's perceptions of candidates and their political behavior.

Key topic: gun politics/policy, Arizona politics

Alex Trimble Young is a scholar of the culture and history of the US West. Broadly speaking, his work investigates the historical origins of the Arizona and the West's gun culture and public lands policy in the violence of the frontier. His recent public facing writing has engaged questions of self-defensive gun ownership, the "campus carry" debate, and recent efforts to privatize public lands.

Key topics: election administration

Carey is a comparative political scientist who has specialized in transitional elections in nascent democracies during the 1990s and more recently in hybrid regimes under democratic erosion. He has monitored elections as part of international NGOs and organizations, and in the past decade he has been a board member of Democracy Counts, an NGO focused on monitoring elections, primarily in the USA, but also abroad.

Key topics: history of Georgia elections, election administration, poll working

Doner’s academic work focuses on variation in economic development, especially upgrading and innovation, as a function of institutions (such as business associations), and politics (cabinet changes, resource endowments, crises). Doner was extensively involved in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 presidential campaigns, including the creation of a "speakers bureau" to engage rural Georgia voters.

Key topics: abortion politics and policy

Rice is the Director of the Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast, which conducts research to inform social, systems and policy change in the direction of greater reproductive equity in the US Southeast region, in partnership with reproductive health, rights and justice organizations.

Key topics: electoral systems, election forecasting, gerrymandering, third parties

Tamas is the author of The Demise and Rebirth of American Third Parties and is an expert on elections, electoral history, third parties, and electoral systems. He is a frequent media commentator for national and international news outlets.

Key topics: state politics, political campaigns

Dulio teaches courses on campaigns and elections, Congress, political parties, interest groups, and other areas of American politics. Dulio has published fifteen books, with two of his most recent being Campaigns and Elections American Style: The Changing Landscape of Political Campaigns and Cases in Congressional Campaigns: Split Decision.

Key topics: threats to democracy, electoral integrity

Frantz studies authoritarian politics and the dynamics of political change.  Her most recent book, The Origins of Elected Strongmen, looks at the key causes of the contemporary wave of democratic backsliding around the globe, where democracies are collapsing from within at the hands of their elected leaders.

Key topics: race and state politics

Lacy's research focuses on black elites, race relations, residential segregation, identity, parental socialization, and suburban inequality. She is the author of the award-winning book, Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class.

Key topics: immigration politics and policy, deportation, immigrant activism

Lopez's research, teaching, and writing address the experiences of immigrants in the rural U.S. He is the author of the award-winning book, Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid.

Key topics: economic inequality, urban-rural inequality

Manduca's research focuses on urban and regional economic development and the consequences of rising inequality for social life in the United States. One emphasis of his work is the importance of federal policy decisions in shaping the economic geography of the US. Another research area focuses on declining upward income mobility in the US and other countries.

Key topics: voting rights, voter fraud beliefs

Lajevardi's work focuses mainly on issues related to religion, race, and ethnicity in American politics; political behavior; voting rights; and immigration. She has particular expertise on US Muslims and their political attitudes and behaviors.

Key topics: climate and energy politics and policy, environmental justice

Reames’ research investigates fair and equitable access to affordable, reliable, clean energy, and explores the production and persistence of energy disparities across race, class, and place. He was recently a presidential appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration serving as Deputy Director for Energy Justice and later Principal Deputy Director for State and Community Energy Programs at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Key topics: natural disasters

Davis has researched environmental disruptions, specifically exploring how extreme events impact historically and socially marginalized communities and the extent to which these groups ultimately recover from an event. Dr. Davis’ scholarship also focuses on dismantling forms of oppression and racism that are situated in spatially disadvantaged communities, causing them to be ill equipped to face repeated events.

Key topics: campaigns, journalism, elections, democratic processes, mis/disinformation

Kreiss studies journalism, politics, and elections, and is the faculty director of a disinformation research center at UNC Chapel Hill.

Key topics: campaign communication strategy, social media, identity in politics, media coverage

McGregor's research focuses on the role of media and social media in political processes, with a focus on the interplay of three groups essential to a functioning democracy: politicians, journalists, and the public, and she is co-editor of Media and January 6th, published in 2024 by Oxford University Press.

Key topics: race and politics, African Americans and voting; Black college students in NC and voting

Mitchell-Walthour studies racial politics in the USA and Brazil. She is the author of The Politics of Survival: The Political Opinions of Social Welfare Beneficiaries in Brazil and the USA and is an Executive Board member of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.

Key topics: healthcare policy and politics, healthcare reform, Medicare, ACA

Oberlander’s research focuses on U.S. health care policy, the politics of health care reform, and Medicare. He has written on access to health insurance, health care cost control, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act.

Key topics: gender and politics

Manzo's research focuses on representation and power, broadly conceived. Within these areas, she examines barriers to women's electoral success, the impacts of women in office, the impacts of different electoral laws, and public opinion.

Key topics: race and state politics

Smith's expertise highlights the role race, racism, and structural inequality play in shaping the American political landscape. Specifically, she focuses on the evolution of the expressions and role of racial attitudes among Americans. Her research also speaks to questions of social policy and resource allocation in a federalist system, with a focus on reproductive healthcare.

Key topics: race, gender, and politics

Brooks's research focuses on matters concerning Black communities in the United States and the wider African Diaspora, particularly African American and English-speaking Caribbean populations. Overarching themes in Brooks's writings include inequality, social justice, working-class studies, and education policy.

Key topics: politics, populism, abortion policy

Munson's research focuses on conservative social movement mobilization and political violence.  He is best known for his work on the pro-life movement and abortion politics, and terrorism. His current research focuses on populism and the changing meaning of politics in suburban America.

Key topics: economic policy and politics, labor

Owen’s research focuses on the politics and economics of trade, global production, and automation, emphasizing the economic well-being and political influence of labor. Overarching themes in Owen’s writing emphasize how workers and multinational firms influence policy outcomes governing trade and foreign direct investment.

Key topics: abortion politics and policy, LGBTQ rights, gender

Purvis' research focuses on transgender children's rights and family law. Purvis' most recent research focuses on the constitutional speech rights of transgender students, disputes over frozen embryos, the constitutional parental rights of fathers, and abortion.

Key topics: political participation and social movements, Pennsylvania politics

Putnam researches social movements and political participation in local, national, and transnational dimensions. Her writings on grassroots politics in rust belt Pennsylvania and beyond have appeared in scholarly and public-facing venues. She is co-lead of the Southwest PA Civic Resilience Initiative at Pitt’s Institute for Cyber Policy, Law, and Security.

Key topics: gender and politics, Pennsylvania politics

Sweet-Cushman teaches courses in public policy, American politics, women and politics, and state and local government. A former successful congressional campaign manager herself and the former assistant director of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics, Jennie pays particular attention to state-level politics in Pennsylvania.

Key topics: Puerto Rican/Latino politics, electoral organizing, left politics

Tormos-Aponte specializes in social movements, identity politics, social policy, and transnational politics. His research focuses on how social movements cope with internal divisions and gain political influence.

Key topics: economic policy, class and race, inequality

VonLockette's work examines the impact of residential segregation on unemployment and wages for blacks and Latinos in metropolitan areas. She has served as consultant for the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Key topics: healthcare politics and policy, voting rights, the role of court

Yaver's research focuses on administrative burdens and health insurance disparities, the politics of health care reform, and reproductive health policy post-Dobbs v. Jackson. Prior to working in academia, she worked in the field on several political campaigns and worked on voter protection issues through People for the American Way.

Key topics: election administration, voting

Burden's research and teaching focus on U.S. elections, public opinion, representation, and the U.S. Congress. His recent research has centered on aspects of election administration and voter participation. He is the author of Personal Roots of Representation, co-editor of The Measure of American Elections, co-author of Why Americans Split Their Tickets, and editor of Uncertainty in American Politics.

Key topics: news and social media, misinformation, voting

Wagner studies how individuals’ use of the overall information ecology affect what they believe, what their preferences are, and how they participate politically. He is co-author of the book Political Behavior of the American Electorate, one of the most-assigned election books in American universities.