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RESEARCH

Research Interests

American Politics (Congressional Representation, Congressional Elections, Electoral Competition)
Political Methodology (Research Methods, Natural Experiments)

Scholarly Publications

Hunt, Charles and Jaclyn Kettler. 2023. “Donors, Spenders, and Nationalization in the Race for Congress.” Forthcoming book chapter in Roads to Congress 2022. Eds., Sean D. Foreman, Marcia L. Godwin, Walter Clark Wilson. Palgrave Macmillan.

 

Herrnson, Paul S., Jaclyn Kettler and Charles Hunt. 2022. “Vive la Différence? Is There a Gender Gap in Campaign Strategy and Spending, and Does it Matter?” Forthcoming in Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy. 

 

Rouse, Stella, Charles Hunt and Kristen Essel. 2022. “Growing Tea With Subnational Roots: Predicting Tea Party Affiliation in State Legislatures.” American Politics Research 50(2): 242-254.

Hunt, Charles. 2021. “Beyond Partisanship: Outperforming the Party Label With Local Roots in Congressional Elections.” Congress and the Presidency 48(3), 343-372.

Hunt, Charles. 2021. “Campaign Finance Trends and Developments in the 2020 Elections.” Book chapter from The Elections of 2020. Ed., Michael Nelson. University of Virginia Press. 

Hunt, Charles. 2021. “Expanding Constituency Support Through Shared Local Roots in U.S. House Primaries.” 2021. American Politics Research 49(2), 233-244. 

Hunt, Charles, Jaclyn Kettler, Brendan Glavin, Michael J. Malbin, and Keith E. Hamm. 2020. “Assessing Group Incentives, Independent Spending, and Campaign Finance Law by Comparing the States.” Election Law Journal 19(3), 374-391. 

Burgat, Casey and Charles Hunt. 2020. “Team Players: How Committee Staffers Clear the Runway for Legislative Action in Congress.” Book chapter from Congress Overwhelmed. Eds., Tim LaPira, Kevin R. Kosar and Lee Drutman. University of Chicago Press. 

Hunt, Charles. 2018. “When Does Redistricting Matter? Changing Conditions and Their Effect on Voter Turnout.” Electoral Studies 54, 128-138.

Working Papers

Hunt, Charles and David Fontana. 2022. “Do Voters Prefer Local Candidates? Multimethod Evidence from the U.S. Senate.” Under Review. 

 

Hunt, Charles. 2022. “Won’t You Be My Senator? Revisiting ‘Friends and Neighbors’ Voting in Congressional Elections.” Under Review.

 

Hunt, Charles, Stella Rouse and Jay Barth. 2022. “In the Interests of Millennials? Exploring Generational Representation in U.S. State Legislatures.” Under Review. 

 

Hunt, Charles and Kristina Miler. 2022. “'How Do Modern Lawmakers Advertise Their Legislative Effectiveness? Evidence From Direct Constituent Communications.” Under Review. 

Kettler, Jaclyn, Charles Hunt, Brendan Glavin, Michael J. Malbin, and Keith E. Hamm. 2022. “State Party Organizations, Independent Expenditures, and Spending Strategies.”
 

Hunt, Charles, and Stella Rouse. 2022. “Local Roots and Electoral Advantages in U.S. State Legislatures.” 

 

Hunt, Charles, and Stella Rouse. 2022. “Polarization, Professionalism, and Local Connections in U.S. State Legislatures.” 


Fowler, Luke and Charles Hunt. 2022. “Environmental Politics and the Two-Party Congress, 1970-2022.”

Recent Conference Papers

“'Communication Style' With Substance: How Legislators Advertise Their Effectiveness to Constituents.” (with Kristina Miler) American Political Science Association Annual Conference, 2021. 

“Won’t You Be My Senator? Revisiting ‘Friends and Neighbors’ Voting in Congressional Elections.” Southern Political Science Association Annual Conference, 2021. 

“Local Roots in Historical Perspective: The House of Representatives, 1960-2020.”Congress and History Conference, 2020 

“In the Interests of Millennials? Exploring Generational Representation in U.S. State Legislatures.” Southern Political Science Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2020. (with Stella Rouse and Jay Barth) 

“Whose Politics is Local? New Empirical Perspectives on the Modern U.S. House.” Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Boise, ID, 2019. 

“Higher-Quality Controls: What Types of ChallengersReally Succeed?” Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2019. 

Public Research and Media

Politics is still local. When incumbents face off in redrawn districts, community ties make a big difference.” The Washington Post (Monkey Cage Blog); November 30, 2021.

6 months from the election, where does the race for control of Congress stand?” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com; May 3, 2020

 

Bernie talks about a revolution. Does he act on it?” Brookings Institution; April 11, 2020 (with Casey Burgat and Trey Billing)

 

Congressional representation may be nationalizing, but some politics is still local.” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com; March 13, 2019

“The 116th freshman class will be the 2nd most educated—and least politically experienced—in the history of the House.” Brookings Institution; December 28th, 2018. (with Casey Burgat)

Freshman class of Congress is looking younger, more female.” USA Today; November 12, 2018 (with Casey Burgat and Trey Billing)

 

Everything you want to know about the 2018 midterm House elections in 8 charts.” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com; November 7, 2018 (with Casey Burgat and Trey Billing)

 

The who, what, when, where, and why of congressional campaign spending.” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com; September 25, 2018 (with Casey Burgat)

“​Why was the Peter Strzok hearing such a circus? Because Congress wanted it that way.​” ​The Washington Post (Monkey Cage Blog); July 17, 2018 (​ with Casey Burgat)

“​How Committee Staffers Clear the Runway for Legislative Action in Congress.​” ​Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com; June 15, 2018 (​ with Casey Burgat)

Members of Congress may not look like their constituents, but they do look like their parties.” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com, 2018

 

No, gerrymandering is not THE cause for non-competitive congressional elections and legislative polarization.” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com, 2018

 

How Wealthy are our Representatives?” Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, LegBranch.com, 2017 (with Casey Burgat)

 

Are Long Weekends Reducing Congress’ Productivity?” Policy short published by the R Street Institute; re-published as shortened op-ed in Inside Sources (with Casey Burgat)

 

Revisiting the Evidence on Party Contribution Limits.” Report published by the Campaign Finance Institute, 2017 (with Michael J. Malbin)


Campaign Finance and Public Opinion: Analysis from the Washington Post/University of Maryland Poll.” Report published by the Center for American Politics and Citizenship, 2016

ResearchGate Profile

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