Author: Willie Desmond

The study finds that if mapmakers target risk-averse incumbents, they can encourage those incumbents to retire and potentially create a more competitive seat.Previous research has focused either on partisan effects (Which party “won” the 1980s round of redistricting?) or on aggregate trends (Do more incumbents retire after redistricting?). Our study builds on the extant research…

A new study conducted by Haystaq Fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Mary Washington Chad Murphy finds that Democrats in Congress are actually more negative about “Obamacare” than their Republican counterparts, while both parties view “healthcare” much more positively.Derek Willis at The Upshot recently published an article about the decline…

Most of the research on women’s representation looks at the types of policies Congress passes, and whether women vote for more “pro-women” policies than their male counterparts. Academic research on this topic is mixed, with some scholars finding overall differences between women and men in Congress, others finding differences on specific issues, and others finding…

I’m fortunate enough to live in the 7th Congressional District of Virginia, so I’m right in the middle of all the coverage of one of the biggest stories in domestic politics right now. One of the big stories has been the silence of David Brat for almost a week (as of the time I write…