Experts

Jennifer Lawless

Fast Facts

  • Chair, UVA Department of Politics
  • Author or co-author of nine books
  • Former editor of the American Journal of Political Science
  • Expertise on women and politics, campaigns and elections, political media

Areas Of Expertise

  • Domestic Affairs
  • Media and the Press
  • Governance
  • Elections
  • Politics

Jennifer L. Lawless is the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and the chair of the Politics Department. She is also has affiliations with UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Miller Center.

Her research focuses on political ambition, campaigns and elections, and media and politics. She is the author or co-author of nine books, including News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement (with Danny Hayes) and It Takes More than a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (with Richard L. Fox). 

Lawless' research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation, has appeared in numerous academic journals and is regularly cited in the popular press. From 2019-2025, Lawless served as the co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Political Science. She is also the recipient of the 2023 Shorenstein Center Goldsmith Book Prize, for the academic book that examines the intersection among media, politics, and public policy. 

Lawless graduated from Union College with a BA in political science and Stanford University with an MA and PhD in political science. In 2006, she sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Although she lost the race, she remains an obsessive political junkie.

Jennifer Lawless News Feed

Women today are just as unlikely as women 20 years ago to express interest in running for office. That’s right. We’ve been studying women and men’s interest in running for office for more than two decades and, as we make clear in our new book, "It Takes More Than a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office," very little has changed.
Jennifer Lawless 1584 Blog
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to largely dismantle the Education Department—an organization created by Congress and tasked with sweeping responsibilities that involve billions in funds that impact millions of American students. Jennifer Lawless, professor of politics and public policy at the University of Virginia, discusses the limits of the president's power to dismantle the federal agency and explains what the move might mean for public school funding and holders of student debt.
Jennifer Lawless Bloomberg
"Voters typically do not care about marital status, and single and married candidates fare equally well," Jennifer Lawless, professor of politics at the University of Virginia, wrote to the Journal. "The challenge with a divorce, of course, is being able to navigate a difficult personal time and a competitive statewide election simultaneously ... If candidates who are in the process of getting divorced tend not to fare well, it's likely because of the personal toll the change in circumstances takes."
Jennifer Lawless Yahoo News
Jennifer Lawless, a leading authority on gender and politics, explores the critical role women are playing in reshaping the political consulting landscape.
Jennifer Lawless American Association of Political Consultants
Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, argues that beating Mr. Trump in 2020 could turn out to be a key Biden legacy.
Jennifer Lawless, Russell Riley The Christian Science Monitor
The Kavanaugh victory helped set the stage for Trump’s latest picks, said Jennifer Lawless, a University of Virginia professor who has written extensively about gender and politics.
Jennifer Lawless The Washington Post