Political Analytics Conference 2026

Sessions

Maeve Ward (moderator)
Senior Advisor, Grow Progress

Wes Anderson
Partner, OnMessage Public Strategies

Jane Rayburn
CO-Founder & Head of Polling and Qualitative, Workbench Strategy

David Wolfson
Managing Partner, DecipherAI; Lecturer, Columbia University SPS Political Analytics

Gregory J. Wawro, Ph.D. (moderator)
Program Director, Political Analytics; Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

Benjy Messner
Founder at New River Strategies; Lecturer, Columbia University SPS Political Analytics

Meg Schwenzfeier, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor, DCCC

Yamil Velez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

VIDEO RECORDING

Michael Schwam-Baird, Ph.D. (moderator)
Deputy Program Director, Political Analytics; Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia University SPS

Eunji Kim, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

Jackie Burns
Communications and Political Strategist; GSAS ‘16

Erika Franklin Fowler, Ph.D.
Professor of Government, Wesleyan University; Co-Director, Wesleyan Media Project

Evan Roth Smith
Co-Founder, Slingshot Strategies

VIDEO RECORDING

Doug Usher, Ph.D. (moderator)
Partner, Forbes Tate Partners; Strategic Advisor, Columbia University SPS Political Analytics

Andrew Gelman, Ph.D.
Higgins Professor of Statistics and Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

Kabir Khanna, Ph.D.
Director, Election Analytics & Technical Systems, CBS News

Joe Lenski
Executive Vice President; SSRS

John Phillips
CEO and Co-Founder, Aristotle

VIDEO RECORDING

Data, Democracy, and AI: The Third Annual Political Analytics Conference Charts a Course for 2026 and Beyond

The 2026 conference was attended by students, faculty, practitioners, and community members and explored how new technologies are reshaping the way campaigns are run, how elections are understood, and how voters are reached.