Experts

Jennifer Lawless

Fast Facts

  • Chair, UVA Department of Politics
  • Author or co-author of six books
  • 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 chair of the UVA Department of Politics. 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. Her most recent book, News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement, won the Harvard Shorenstein Center 2023 Goldsmith Prize for Best Academic Book. Lawless is also the author or co-author of seven other books, including Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era (with Danny Hayes) and It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (with Richard L. Fox). Her research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation, has appeared in numerous academic journals and is regularly cited in the popular press.

Lawless is the co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Political Science. She 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

UVA’s Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics, Lawless has taught presidential election courses for two decades. When she became chair of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Politics during the pandemic, she sought a teaching partner to develop an interesting, innovative large lecture class on Zoom.
Jennifer Lawless UVA College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
“Harris already broke the glass ceiling; she became vice president of the United States. But as far as becoming a Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton already did that. In terms of being well poised to win the popular vote, Hillary Clinton already did that. And so it’s less novel.”
Jennifer Lawless NBC News
We look ahead to the U.S. elections taking place on November 5th with Professor Jennifer Lawless, the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia.
Jennifer Lawless The Transatlanticists Podcast
“One of the lessons coming out of 2016 is that focusing on identity was not enough to sway swing voters in battleground states."
Jennifer Lawless Vox
Chair of University of Virginia’s Politics Department Jennifer Lawless said now is this time to avoid obsession over the numbers and ‘polling whiplash.'
Jennifer Lawless 29 News
“This is bad for civic engagement and democratic accountability,” Lawless said. “If the entire map was in play, then we would no longer have battleground states, where catering to a sliver of swing voters determines both parties’ campaign strategies.”
Jennifer Lawless UVA Today