As a political reporter I cover campaigns, but I focus on the juncture between politics and policy, with a special emphasis on economic issues that influence political trends and the waxing and waning power of organized labor. A side specialty is reporting on the causes of and suggested cures for partisan division. My work has taken me to Silverton, Colo., to map a small town’s divisions driven by the passions of national politics, to rural Georgia to see the rise of President Biden’s clean energy economy, to the border region of Laredo, Texas, and to the tidewater of Virginia to see the strains on democracy from the political left and the political right. I strive to chronicle political trends through those seeking office, and those driven to vote — or to abstain from voting — based on economic, social and cultural forces.
My Background
I have worked for several national newspapers, including The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and USA Today, as well as other publications, with coverage beats that have included the White House, Congress, the Treasury, the Defense and Energy departments, military and nuclear policy, economic policy and politics.
I wrote a critically acclaimed novel, “No. 4 Imperial Lane,” and a nonfiction book “(((Semitism))): Being Jewish in American in the Age of Trump,” that chronicled the rise of bigotry and white nationalism that accompanied Donald Trump’s political movement.
I grew up in Atlanta, studied journalism and African and Middle Eastern history at Northwestern University and served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines and Guinea Bissau. With my two daughters now grown, I live in Chicago with my wife, Jennifer Steinhauer.
Journalistic Ethics
In keeping with Times policy, I do not campaign for or donate to political candidates, and I don’t give money to advocacy groups or political organizations.
Contact Me
I prefer contact by email but sensitive information can be sent through The Times tips line or Signal.
If Ms. Harris were to win the “blue wall” and lose the Sun Belt swing states, the single electoral vote in Greater Omaha could determine the winner of the presidential election.
Strong showings in new Times/Siena College polls leave a narrow path open for Democrats to keep hold of the chamber, but Republicans maintain an advantage with the map.
In a campaign they would like to center on the economy and the border, Republican candidates keep drifting back to abortion rights, an issue that favors Democrats.
A single Republican state senator appears to be holding back a push by Donald J. Trump to net a potentially pivotal electoral vote even before ballots are cast.
The Teamsters president, Sean O’Brien, has shown an openness to former President Donald J. Trump, dividing the powerful union. Neither candidate will be the beneficiary of its considerable organizing muscle.
The claim that Aurora, Colo., has been overrun by gun-toting migrants stemmed from the city’s fight with a landlord. Now it is central to one of former President Donald J. Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign promises.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump joined President Biden and other dignitaries in a daylong journey to sites of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.