Research
My research focuses on American politics with particular emphasis on state and local politics, elections & voting, and southern politics, (often crossing over between these areas). I received Western Carolina University’s highest award in scholarship (University Scholar) in recognition of the impact of my work.
To date, my research has been published in over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles in Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, and related disciplines. I have also published one co-authored book (The Resilience of Southern Identity), and one co-edited book (The New Politics of North Carolina). A new book , Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Primer was published by UNC Press in 2024.
State & Local Politics
Most of my current work in this area examines how state legislatures and local governments function and whom they represent—including misinformation about state legislative salaries, theconsequences of gubernatorial appointments to the U.S. Senate (w/ Knotts & Ragusa), and an effort to build the first systematic measure of local legislative professionalism (w/ Rimes). This builds on a longer-standing interest in how state legislatures operate and how electoral structures shape political representation.
It's worth noting that many of the papers and questions I take up in southern politics and elections are set at the state or local levels—I often find that's where most of the action is.
Southern Politics
As recent debates over voting rights, Confederate symbols, and the political relevance of southern identity make clear, southern politics remains distinct from politics in the rest of the country. My recent and current work focuses on the politics of southern memory (w/Huffmon, Knotts & McKee), the continued importance of southern identity (w/Huffmon, Knotts & McKee), the role of southern accents in campaigns and elections (w/ Amira, Knotts & Wofford), the place of MAGA Republicans in the southern electorate (w/ Huffmon, Knotts & McKee) and the politics of a changing South (w/ Huffmon, Knotts & McKee). I have also written on the South's only competitive congressional district in 2024 and the 2024 presidential election in the South (w/Knotts), and I am working on a book manuscript tracing the evolution of North Carolina's 11th congressional district—some of which I discuss in this piece in The Forum.
Elections & Voting
I am interested in how the electoral process shapes the way citizens are represented. Recent and current work examines the rise of unaffiliated voters (w/ Bitzer, Manzo, and Roberts), the emergence and rapid collapse of the No Labels party in a purple state (w/ Bitzer, Manzo, McLennon, & Roberts), the effects of changing early voting locations on turnout (w/ Bitzer & Dukes), and registration roll-off—the growing tendency of voters to leave demographic information blank on their registration forms (w/ Bitzer). I have also studied patterns of incursion and reclamation in U.S. House midterm elections, public opinion on redistricting in South Carolina (w/ Huffmon, Knotts & McKee), and how election administrators in Western North Carolina responded in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. (w/ my election administration class).