I am an Associate Professor in the Hobby School for Public Affairs at the University of Houston. 

My research interests focus on American politics and public policy, with a focus on state and local politics, gender and politics, the politics of criminal justice, research methods, and environmental politics. 

My first book, Women in Politics in the American City (Temple University Press) examines the effect of women mayors and city council members on urban politics. I edited a volume on gender and political ambition: Good Reasons to Run. 

My book on county sheriffs in the United States with Emily Farris, The Power of the Badge was just published by the University of Chicago Press in fall 2024. My next book, The Hidden Face of Local Power, will be published by Temple University Press in the upcoming year. 

I've been widely published in both academic journals and in the popular press, including NPR, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and others. 

Want to know how to pronounce my name? Here's me saying it! 

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