Experts

Jennifer Lawless

Faculty Senior Fellow
UVA+CV+-+Jennifer+Lawless.pdf

Fast Facts

  • Chair, UVA Department of Politics
  • Author or co-author of nine books
  • Former editor of the American Journal of Political Science
  • Expertise on women and politics, campaigns and elections, political media

Areas Of Expertise

  • Domestic Affairs
  • Media and the Press
  • Governance
  • Elections
  • Politics

Jennifer L. Lawless is the Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and the chair of the Politics Department. She is also has affiliations with UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Miller Center.

Her research focuses on political ambition, campaigns and elections, and media and politics. She is the author or co-author of nine books, including News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement (with Danny Hayes) and It Takes More than a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office (with Richard L. Fox). 

Lawless' research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation, has appeared in numerous academic journals and is regularly cited in the popular press. From 2019-2025, Lawless served as the co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Political Science. She is also the recipient of the 2023 Shorenstein Center Goldsmith Book Prize, for the academic book that examines the intersection among media, politics, and public policy. 

Lawless graduated from Union College with a BA in political science and Stanford University with an MA and PhD in political science. In 2006, she sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Although she lost the race, she remains an obsessive political junkie.

Featured Publications

It Takes More Than a Candidate
It Takes More Than a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

News Hole
News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

Women Men
Women, Men & US Politics: 10 Big Questions

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

Women on the Run
Women on the Run

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

Running From Office
Running From Office

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

Becoming a Candidate
Becoming a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless

It Still Takes a Candidate
It Still Takes a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

It Takes a Candidate
It Takes a Candidate

Jennifer Lawless (coauthor)

Jennifer Lawless News Feed

The Guardian
‘Opening a door that was closed too long’: the hunt for a female vice-president
Biden and Sanders, the last men standing, “don’t look the way the party looks”, said Jennifer Lawless, a professor at the University of Virginia and an expert on women in politics. “They don’t even look the way the primary field looked.”
Jennifer Lawless The Guardian
GoLocalProv
Top Political Scientists Weigh in on Cuomo’s Political Future
“It seems that Andrew Cuomo has exceeded expectations not only among New Yorkers but nationwide — and he’s basically the person that people are looking for for a sense of calm, cool, and collectedness that they don’t get from Donald Trump,” said University of Virginia Professor of Political Science Jennifer Lawless, when she appeared on GoLocal LIVE.
Jennifer Lawless GoLocalProv
Politico
Bye Bye Bernie
Sunday night’s debate will likely go down as the event that ended Sanders’ presidential campaign. On the heels of two disappointing super Tuesdays, a stunning turnaround by Biden, and a global health crisis, Sanders had to do two things to stay alive: First, calm and soothe the nation, and second, lay out a path for ensuring that he can defeat Donald Trump in November. He failed to deliver on both counts. To make matters worse for Sanders, Biden’s debate performance was nothing short of excellent.
Jennifer Lawless POLITICO Magazine
Vox
The Michigan primary results raised a striking question about sexism
Additionally, the University of Virginia’s Jennifer Lawless argues that Clinton’s tenure in politics played a big role. “Hillary Clinton was an imperfect candidate with 25 years of very public baggage. It’s impossible to know whether voters chose Sanders over her because of sexism or ‘Clintonism,’” she says.
Jennifer Lawless Vox
The New York Times
Democrats Eye a Vice-Presidential Consolation Prize for Women
“In the current political environment, it looks tone deaf to have an all-white, all-male ticket,” said Jennifer Lawless, a professor at the University of Virginia and an expert on women in politics. “There’s no question that the notion of a female V.P. is used as a strategy and I think that’s a little bit sexist. It’s sort of like an ‘insert woman here’ kind of conversation.”
Jennifer Lawless The New York Times
Waco Herald-Tribune
Democratic male judges may be headed for extinction in Texas
Jennifer Lawless, who studies women in politics at the University of Virginia, cited research indicating that some voters have a baseline gender preference. Lawless said women, to the extent that they are stereotyped as more cooperative and empathetic, might see a boost in judicial races from voters who want judges with those qualities. And the “electability” concerns that seem to doom women competing, for example, for president, come into play less in races voters view as lower-stakes.
Jennifer Lawless Waco Herald-Tribune