Department of Political Science
Lehigh University
Most of my academic research has been concentrated in two areas. The first spans state government, federalism and intergovernmental relations. My work examines how and why states represent their interests before the federal government, and why there is such variation in how states do this. My book, The Governors’ Lobbyists: Federal-State Relations Offices and Governors Associations in Washington (University of Michigan Press, 2016), examines governors’ lobbying offices and associations from their establishment to the present day.
I am currently investigating other public official associations and their functioning in Washington. I am also beginning work exploring the U.S. territories and their place in our federal system.
My other area of interest is political careers. I’m interested in why people choose to work in and around government, and why some people have greater political ambitions than others. A lot of my interest in this area stems from my early professional years in Washington, DC, where I worked as a Hill staffer and then a governmental affairs representative (lobbyist) at a trade association before leaving for graduate school. Through the Political Employment Project I have examined the career patterns, motivations and goals of legislative staffers, elected county executives, and elected trial court judges.
I have worked for many years with Thad Beyle, professor emeritus of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, on the Gubernatorial Campaign Expenditures Database, which contains campaign spending data for every candidate for governor in each of the 50 states (where reporting is required) from 1977 to 2016. The dataset also contains data on the vote share for each candidate in the general election and, where available, the primaries.
I earned my B.A. in political science at the University of Michigan, and my M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have held tenure-track positions at Bucknell University and the University at Albany (SUNY), and tenured positions at Binghamton University (SUNY) and Lehigh University.
I served in full-time administrative positions in higher education from 2008 to 2023, serving as associate dean for academic affairs for Harpur College of Arts and Science at Binghamton University (SUNY), and deputy provost for academic affairs at Lehigh.