Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas, where I also serve as Assistant Director of the ImpactLab for Applied Social Science Research. Beginning in January 2027, I will be an Associate Editor at Political Behavior.

I study American politics with a focus on public policy, representation, and elections. My research examines how governments allocate scarce public resources, the design and delivery of public policy, and what these choices mean for democratic accountability and broader societal outcomes. Put simply, I study who gets what from government and why it matters.

My research has spanned a variety of topics, including the long-term consequences of New Deal-era public works spending, the electoral returns to the congressional pork barrel, the distribution of local education spending and COVID-19 food assistance, inequalities in city service delivery, the effects of state preemption laws on local democracy, the relationship between constituency size and political representation, and the ways citizens use national economic performance to evaluate government. 

My work has appeared in the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Politics, among other outlets. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA. I am a devoted Swiftie.