SoRelle W. Gaynor

SoRelle W. Gaynor is an assistant professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and a faculty affiliate at the Center for Effective Lawmaking.

Gaynor researches and teaches courses on the U.S. Congress, American politics, and political methodology. Her research considers the intersection of congressional reform, political parties, and constituent communication, as well as work on congressional redistricting, campaign finance, and the measurement of ideology. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and more. She is an author for the textbook Congress Explained, and her book, Echo Chambers: How Partisan Communication Took Over Congress is forthcoming from University of Chicago Press. 

From 2019-2021, she served as an APSA Public Service Fellow for the U.S. House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. She previously worked in the U. S. House and Senate as a press secretary and speechwriter. 

Gaynor earned a PhD in government and politics from the University of Maryland and a BA with honors in history and journalism from the University of Alabama.