Oct. 21, 2024

Election experts available to speak to media

Ahead of the 2024 election, University of Arizona experts are available to speak to media about political campaigns, voter behavior, key electoral trends, social movements, and national and local issues shaping the local and national political landscapes.

Lori Poloni-Staudinger
Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
lorips@arizona.edu
520-621-1112

Poloni-Staudinger's research focuses on social movements, women's political participation, political violence in Europe and the U.S., and the intersection of fashion and politics. She is a leader in civic engagement and founded the Arizona Deliberates project – a cooperative, grant-funded project involving the U of A, Maricopa Community College District, Northern Arizona University and Arizona nonprofits intended to increase citizen participation in politics.

Samara Klar
Melody S. Robidoux Fund Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy
klar@arizona.edu

Klar focuses on how personal identity and social context shape political attitudes and behavior. Using experiments, surveys and statistical tools, her award-winning research has been published in top journals, including Science and American Political Science Review. She co-authored the award-winning book "Independent Politics" and founded WomenAlsoKnowStuff.com to promote women in political science. 

Thomas Volgy
Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
volgy@arizona.edu

Volgy specializes in international politics, democratic processes and domestic public policy. He served on the Tucson City Council for 10 years and was mayor of Tucson from 1987 to 1991. After leaving politics, he trained overseas government officials in democratic political development and public policy. He also worked for 20 years as the executive director of the International Studies Association, the largest association of its kind focusing on international politics.

Kate Kenski
Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
kkenski@arizona.edu

Kenski focuses on political communication and public opinion, specifically the influence of media in elections. Her recent studies explore the effects of incivility in online forums and how multimedia teaching strategies can reduce cognitive biases. 

Christopher Weber
Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
chrisweber@arizona.edu

Weber specializes in political psychology and political behavior, with a focus on American political campaigns and ideology. He has research interests in political methodology, primarily experimental methods and measurement. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on political psychology, the mass media and research methods, and is developing the Arizona Voter Project to catalog and analyze the voting habits of Arizona's electorate.

Frank Gonzalez
Associate Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
fgonzo@arizona.edu

Gonzalez studies political psychology to understand how people place themselves in groups in society, how group-related attitudes interact with ideological principles and how that interaction impacts political opinions and behaviors. Gonzalez also studies ideological differences between liberal and conservative viewpoints, and how to cultivate democratic deliberation in group discussions.

Yotam Shmargad
Associate Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
yotam@arizona.edu

Shmargad's areas of expertise include the intersection of social media platforms and political campaigns, particularly the role these platforms play in shaping public perception, voter mobilization and political messaging strategies. Shmargad also studies political polarization and the growing trend of incivility in public discourse.

Chad Westerland
Associate Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
cwesterl@arizona.edu

Westerland researches judicial politics and political methodology, with a focus on American politics. He teaches undergraduate courses on American constitutional law, judicial process, and law and social change, and as well as graduate courses on American politics and statistical methodology.

Lisa M. Sanchez
Assistant Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
lisasanchez@arizona.edu

Sanchez investigates ethno-racial disparities in American politics. She studies how those disparities are perpetuated and how they might be mitigated. Her work examines various aspects of politics, including Congress, identity politics, state politics, political identity, political participation, and public policy on health and immigration.

Tessa Provins
Assistant Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
tessaprovins@arizona.edu

Provins' research primarily focuses on American legislative institutions and Indigenous institutions and policy. She examines how the design of legislative bodies impacts outcomes for groups of various racial, gender and political backgrounds. She also explores the structure of Native American tribal governments and their effects on intratribal, intertribal and government relationships, as well as policy outcomes. Her teaching interests include American politics, race politics, gender politics and quantitative methods.

Pete Seat
Adjunct Instructor, School of Government and Public Policy
pseat@arizona.edu

Seat is a former White House spokesman, nationally recognized political commentator, columnist, author, Atlantic Council Millennium Fellow and Council on Foreign Relations term member who studies national politics.  

Barbara Atwood
Co-Director, Family and Juvenile Law Certificate Program
Mary Anne Richey Professor Emerita of Law, James E. Rogers College of Law
batwood@arizona.edu
520-621-1912

Atwood's scholarship explores topics at the intersection of civil procedure and family law, with a particular focus on issues of voice and representation for marginalized groups. She has spoken at national and international conferences on child representation, the Indian Child Welfare Act and family law. Her research areas also include abortion access and reproductive rights.

Keith Swisher
Professor of Legal Ethics, James E. Rogers College of Law
keithswisher@arizona.edu
520-626-8373

Swisher is the director of the U of A Bachelor of Law and Master of Legal Studies programs. He studies and teaches legal and judicial ethics and procedures and has served as ethics counsel and an expert witness for lawyers, law firms and judges. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

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Media contact:
Logan Burtch-Buus
University Communications
520-609-1383
lburtchbuus@arizona.edu

The University of Arizona, a land-grant institution with two independently accredited medical schools, ranks among the nation's top universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as student-centric and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. As a leading Research 1 institution, the University of Arizona ranks in the top 20 among all public universities with $955 million in annual research expenditures according to the National Science Foundation. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 71 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. and Canada. It benefits the state of Arizona with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually.