Michael McDonald
Professor of Political Science
Michael McDonald PhD. is Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida who specializes in American elections. He produces what are widely considered to be the most accurate turnout rates for the nation and states, and during the lead into an election tracks early voting activity across the nation at the UF Election Lab (election.lab.ufl.edu). He received a B.S. in Economics from Caltech, a PhD in Political Science from UC San Diego, and did a post-doc at Harvard. He previously taught at George Mason University, the University of Illinois Springfield, and Vanderbilt. While in DC he was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He’s consulted for the national exit poll organization, Associated Press, ABC, NBC, the US Election Assistance Commission, and the Federal Voting Assistance Program, among others. His most recent book is From Pandemic to Insurrection: Voting in the 2020 Presidential Election.