I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where I study American politics. My research examines how electoral institutions shape congressional representation in the United States, the trade-offs involved in achieving representativeness, and the mechanisms through which these dynamics unfold. 

My dissertation investigates how voter knowledge, ideology, and party influence interact to shape vote choice in U.S. primary elections, in order to understand how nomination systems affect the broader democratic context in which they operate. I draw on original panel surveys that I designed and fielded in 45 congressional districts across the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, encompassing more than 37,000 respondents and 9,000 validated primary voters—the largest voter-level dataset on House primaries to date. My findings show that primary voters are significantly more likely to support the candidate closest to them ideologically, even in the absence of party cues and amid challenging information environments. This ideological alignment persists even when party organizations endorse a rival candidate, revealing an important degree of voter autonomy independent of elite influence. 

My broader research explores differences between primary and general electorates and how perceptions of electability shape support for women and minority candidates. Collectively, my work demonstrates how the structure of two-stage elections in the United States simultaneously empowers and constrains voters, with important consequences for democratic representation.