Northwestern University

03/11/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/11/2026 13:30

Elections 2026 Press Kit

Elections 2026 Press Kit

Media Information

  • Release Date: March 11, 2026

Media Contacts

Stephanie Kulke

Stephen J. Lewis

Shanice Harris

Northwestern University scholars in the fields of political science, law, business, history, communication and psychology are available to discuss a wide range of 2026 election topics including redistricting, voter behavior, campaign strategy, election law, misinformation, polarization and political conventions.

Connect with them directly using the contact information below, or reach out to media relations for assistance.

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Experts on the political campaigns, redistricting and election integrity

Political science

Experts

Tabitha Bonilla

Politics, institutions and public policy expert

Associate Professor, Political Science and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research

  • Campaign promises
  • Political messaging
  • Political representation
  • Voting behavior
Jaime Dominguez

Urban politics, race, ethnic and Latino and Chicago politics expert

Associate Professor of Instruction, Political Science

  • Race and ethnicity
  • Immigration
  • Urban politics
  • Latino politics
  • Chicago politics
Laurel Harbridge-Yong

Campaign and elections expert

Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Political Science
Faculty Fellow and Associate Director, Institute for Policy Research

  • American politics
  • Impact of rising political violence
  • Political parties and partisan conflict
  • Congressional elections
  • Primary elections
Mary McGrath

Politics, institutions and public policy expert

Assistant Professor, Political Science and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research

  • Political decision making and behavior
  • Climate change opinion formation
  • Partisanship and polarization
Alexander Coppock

Campaign persuasion tactics

Associate Professor, Political Science and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research

  • Campaign persuasion tactics

Law

Experts

Jason DeSanto

Law, public advocacy and First Amendment expert

Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Pritzker School of Law

  • Campaign messaging
  • Debates
  • Speeches
Michael Kang

Campaign finance, voting rights, redistricting and judicial elections expert

Class of 1940 Professor of Law

  • Election law
  • Voting rights and redistricting
  • Campaign finance
  • Judicial elections
Paul Gowder

Constitutional law and rule of law expert

Frederic P. Vose Professor of Law

  • Constitutional law
  • Critical race theory
  • Political, moral and legal philosophy
  • Law and technology

Psychology of voters

Experts

William Brady

Social media and intergroup attitudes expert

Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management

  • Researches how human psychology and digital social contexts interact to shape emotions and intergroup attitudes
  • Misinformation and how it exploits outrage online
Sally Nuamah

Race, gender, public institutions and political behavior expert

Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, School of Education and Social Policy

  • Feminist and gender studies
  • Race, ethnicity and politics
  • Education policy
  • Political behavior
Jacob Teeny

Behavioral research expert

Assistant Professor of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management

  • Political advertising and personalized persuasion
  • Political partisanship and attitudes toward fraught issues
  • Dialogues between opposing sides and what makes them contentious/cooperative

Campaign Messaging, Digital Media, Misinformation and AI

Experts

Erik C. Nisbet

Elections and campaigns, voter behavior and misinformation expert

Professor of Communication Studies in the School of Communication and director of The Center for Communication and Public Policy

  • Voter Behavior & Public Opinion
  • Political Advertising
  • Campaign Strategy and Communications
  • Mis/Disinformation
  • Digital Media Strategies
  • Artificial Inteligence in Political Messaging
David Rapp

Misinformation and fake news expert

Professor of psychology and of learning sciences

  • Fake news and media literacy
  • Processing inaccurate information
  • Source credibility
  • Narrative and expository comprehension
  • Data visualization
  • Persuasion
Nathan Walter

Misinformation and fake news expert

Associate Professor of Communication Studies in the School of Communication, Director of the Center of Media Psychology and Social Influence (COM-PSI) at Northwestern

  • Why misinformation sticks - and why corrections fail
  • Fact-checking: What works, what doesn't, and for whom
  • Conspiracy theories and political polarization
  • How emotions fuel misinformation
  • Parasocial relationships: Influencers vs. experts
Yingdan Lu

Political communication, misinformation, and generative AI expert

Assistant Professor of Communication Studies in the School of Communication, Director of Computational Media and Politics Lab.

  • Multimodal misinformation and disinformation
  • Generative AI and synthetic media
  • Influencers, fandom and political engagement
  • Credibility and persuasion

History

Experts

Michael Allen

Presidential and party politics expert

Associate professor of history

  • The realignment of U.S. party politics since WWII
  • 20th century U.S. political and diplomatic history
  • Presidential politics
Kathleen Belew

Expert on political extremism and Christian nationalism

Associate Professor of History

  • Christian Nationalism
  • Gun violence/mass violence/school shootings
  • Political polarization and division
  • Extremism, political violence
  • Racism and inequality

Belew's first book "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America" established her as the foremost historian of the modern white power movement.

Kevin Boyle

Expert on American history since 1900

William Smith Mason Professor of American History

  • Race and politics in Chicago
  • Political violence
  • The civil rights movement
  • Economic and labor history

His most recent book is "The Shattering: America in the 1960s," a narrative history of the decade whose conflicts shattered America's postwar order and divide us still.

Heather Hendershot

TV news, conservative media and political movements expert

Cardiss Collins Professor of Communication Studies and Journalism

Northwestern University published this content on March 11, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 11, 2026 at 19:30 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]