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

Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at University of Virginia, said Dr Biden will “knock down a glass ceiling” for first ladies and, along with Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, who is leaving his job to become America’s first ever second gentleman, represents an evolution of US politics. “This is the first time that we’re seeing somebody say, ‘You know what? My previous life is important too and I’m not going to define myself entirely based on my husband’s job’,” she said.
Jennifer Lawless The Irish Times
Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, said Harris’s pivotal role in the Senate will mean she “is going to be cast in a very different light than previous vice-presidents” and will make her crucial in terms of putting forward a legislative agenda.
Jennifer Lawless The Guardian
“Donald Trump did the opposite of coming full circle,” said Jennifer Lawless, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. “He was an insecure businessman who made himself feel powerful by demeaning women. He was an insecure president who claimed victory every time he chipped away at diversity, inclusion, and equity. And he’s an insecure soon-to-be former president whose remarks make it clear that he believes women are too weak to be patriots.”
Jennifer Lawless HuffPost
Anymore these days, it’s hard for people on opposite ends of the political spectrum to talk civilly about American politics. So the cards were stacked against Jennifer Lawless–a democratic candidate for Congress and board member of Planned Parenthood–and Mary Kate Cary–who worked as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and communications director for the Republican National Committee–when they signed up to co-teach a course about the 2020 election at the University of Virginia.
Jennifer Lawless BYU Radio
With Warnock and Ossoff now heading to the Senate, many progressives are hopeful that their wins will grant Democrats a smooth path forward in implementing a more left-leaning agenda. But during a recent conversation with Newsweek, Jennifer Lawless, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, said the reality likely won't be as clear-cut. With narrow majorities in the House and Senate, Democratic leaders will have to strike a balance between securing legislative victories and avoiding alienating the more moderate members of their party.
Jennifer Lawless Newsweek
Worried that 2021 could be filled with cringe-worthy political conversations around the virtual dinner table and, post-pandemic, in real life? Dreading the moment that an outspoken neighbor, work colleague or family member pops off? Well, the two of us — one a card-carrying liberal and the other a self-avowed conservative — just survived 13 weeks of hour-long political conversations, twice a week every week. And get this: We actually enjoyed it.
Jennifer Lawless USA Today