About

I am a political scientist specializing in American politics, political behavior, and public policy. I earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a Carnegie Research 1 (R1) institution, with fields in American Politics, Public Law, Political Behavior, and Methods. I currently teach at Liberty University and previously taught American Government at Southeastern Illinois College and Political Communication and Law in American Society at Southern Illinois University.

My research examines how information, political identities, and organized mobilization shape political behavior and policy responsiveness. My work spans immigrant political incorporation and partisanship, elections and vote choice, public opinion and political communication, social movements and organized interests, and American public policy. Across these areas, I am particularly interested in when issues become politically consequential, how individual concerns develop into organized political demands, and when those demands generate institutional and policy responses. My research uses quantitative methods and survey data, including the American National Election Study and other national public-opinion datasets.

I have presented my research at the American Political Science Association (APSA) and Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) annual meetings, among other scholarly conferences. I am an Academy Fellow in the Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program and a Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Fellow of the U.S. Department of State. I previously served as Assistant Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Statesmanship and Public Policy and currently serve as a manuscript reviewer for Political Research Quarterly.

Dissertation Research

My dissertation research examines how time spent in the United States shapes immigrants’ partisan strength — a key but often overlooked dimension in understanding political development. I argue that years lived in the U.S. is the most powerful and consistent predictor of partisan strength among immigrants, more so than age or time in the electorate.