I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa, where I study American politics and political methodology. My research interests include race and ethnic politics, voting rights, political behavior, and elections. 

My dissertation examines how voting rights protections—and the way they are implemented—shape ballot access and representation for Latino communities. Specifically, I explore the literature’s skepticism surrounding the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and its various protections for minority voting rights. I employ causal inference designs while also building original datasets to understand questions like: how Shelby v. Holder (2013) impacts Latino descriptive representation and how Section 203 compliance increases Spanish-speaking Latino turnout.

The renewal of the VRA is approaching, and the Supreme Court opinion in Shelby v. Holder (2013) suggests that the Act might be at risk. Here, the Supreme Court voted to remove a key provision of the VRA, arguing that voter disenfranchisement has largely been eradicated. More recently, on March 1, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. Placing my research within this broader erosion of protections highlights how minority representation and ballot access are already being shaped and why the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act will be a pivotal moment for the future of U.S. democracy.