Virginia Tech has a number of experts available to speak on topics surrounding the election including Virginia legislative races, issues such as abortion and education rights, campaign finance, and more. To schedule an interview, please contact mediarelations@vt.edu.

Topics: Virginia legislative races, effects of redistricting, campaign spending, reproductive rights, public education, possible implications of state legislative results for policy/emphases in Virginia, what results tell us about the 2024 presidential race.

Expert: Karen Hult, chair of the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

About: Hult teaches political science at Virginia Tech and serves as chair of its Center for Public Administration & Policy, with expertise in the U.S. Presidency, federal and state politics, policy, and governance, and federal and state courts.  

Topics: Local elections for school board or board of supervisors, election issues such as abortion rights or education policy.

Expert: Brandy Faulkner, Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies, collegiate assistant professor in the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.


About: Faulkner teaches courses in public administration, constitutional law, administrative law, research methods, and the politics of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Topics: Campaign finance, AI in political advertising, primary campaign communication, general election campaign communication, campaigning in a polarized primary vs. general election, election surprises/crisis and chances of survival, election disinformation, and post-election party positioning.

Expert: Cayce Myers, professor of public relations and director of graduate studies at the School of Communication at the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.


About: Myers’ areas of focus are media history, political communication, and laws that affect public relations practice. He is the author of Public Relations History: Theory Practice and Profession and Money in Politics: Campaign Fundraising in the 2020 Presidential Election. In addition to his public relations scholarship, Myers is accredited in public relations, and is active in several public relations and communication organizations.

Topics: Gerrymandering, American politics, legislative elections, election law, congress

Expert: Nicholas Goedert,  assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.


About: Goedert’s research has been published in journals including the American Journal of Political Science, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Election Law Journal, and Research and Politics. He served as an expert witness in the Wisconsin redistricting case Whitford v. Gill (adjudicated by the U.S. Supreme Court during summer 2018), and has also served as a consultant for the advocacy group FairVote and the Pennsylvania state legislature on election structure issues.

Topics: Election security

Expert: Justin Monday, assistant professor of practice in the Department of Business Information Technology at the Pamplin College of Business.


About: Monday is a former cybersecurity officer in the U.S. Air Force who now teaches an election security class at Virginia Tech. He retired as a commissioned officer after serving 20 years in the U.S. Air Force in the fields of Cyber Operations, Intelligence, and Security Forces.

Topics: Polarization and partisan nature of non-partisan school board elections.

Expert: Karin Kitchens, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.


About: In addition to teaching, Kitchens is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Center for Research on Children in the United States (CROCUS) at Georgetown. Her research focuses on the effects of segregation and diversity on public good investment, particularly for public education.