Jennifer Lawless

Jennifer L. Lawless is the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where she served as chair of the Politics Department from 2020-2026. 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.