Research Agenda
My research focuses on interest groups - specifically, the way groups influence their members perceptions of government and politics and interest groups' influence on the broader political system. I draw on my extensive experience working with interest groups to develop research questions that are grounded in the practical problems that interest group practitioners face and that take into account the way interest groups operate in the U.S. system.
Research Projects
Policy or Politics: Labor Unions in a Polarized America
It is well established that labor unions are part of the Democratic party electoral coalition. But does that partisanship extend to labor unions' lobbying behavior? As labor union members are more likely to affiliate with with Republican party, has unions' lobbying strategy changed over time? In this paper, I use a novel dataset of labor union emails to members and bills lobbied by labor unions in the state of Wisconsin to understand when labor unions use partisan versus bipartisan strategies.
Recipient of 2025 Consortium on American Political Economy Research Grant
Presenting at 2026 Midwest Political Science Association
Pragmatic Partners: Legislative Effectiveness and Interest Group Contributions, with Kris Miler
In this paper, we investigate the ways in which a member of Congress's donors influence the lawmakers' behavior. In this paper, we find that a lawmaker's political donors influence both their legislative effectiveness and their likelihood to work across the aisle.
Presented at 2024 American Political Science Association Conference and 2025 Center for Effective Lawmaking Conference
Mobilizations that Bind: Interest Group Maintenance Through Grassroots Engagement
How does grassroots engagement influence interest group member retention? When people get involved in an interest group’s political activities, group membership is more likely to be incorporated into the person’s social identity, which leads members with strong social identities to be intrinsically motivated to participate in the interest group. Using a survey of interest group members, I investigate the ways interest groups interact with social identity.