SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor

Biography

SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. She studies and teach courses on the U.S. Congress and political methodology. Her work has been published in Legislative Studies Quarterly,Political Behavior, The Monkey Cage, and more, and is an author of the textbook Congress Explained (2nd Edition, forthcoming fall 2025).

SoRelle received her PhD in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland. In 2019-2021, she served as an APSA Public Service Fellow for the U.S. House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Prior to attending the University of Maryland, she worked in the U. S. House and Senate as a press secretary and speechwriter. She received her bachelor’s degree in History and Journalism, with honors, from the University of Alabama.
 

Courses Taught 

POLS 208: Congress and Legislative Behavior 
POLS 299: Research Methods in Political Science
POLS 100: Principles of American Government
 

Recent Publications

Gaynor, S. W. (2024). “Following the leaders: Asymmetric party messaging in the U.S. Congress”, Legislative Studies Quarterly. 

Hayes, S. and Gaynor, S.W. (2024) “Secure Majorities, Unequal Districts: One Person, One Vote & State Bipartisanship.” Electoral Studies 91, 102835.

Goel, P., Malkin, N., Gaynor, S. W., Jojic, N., Miler, K., and Resnik, P. (2023). “How donor activity predicts US legislators’ attention to political speech.” PLOS ONE. 

Gaynor, S. W. and Gimpel, J. G. (2023). “Building Support through the Personalization of Twitter Messages in a Permanent Campaign.” American Politics Research.

Safarpour, A. C., Gaynor, S. W., Rouse, S. M. Swers, M. (2022). When Women Run, Voters Will Follow (Sometimes): Examining the Mobilizing Effect of Female Candidates in the 2014 and 2018 Midterm Elections. Political Behavior. 

Gaynor, S. W. (2021). The (Financial) Ties That Bind: Social Networks of Intraparty Caucuses, Gaynor, S. W. Legislative Studies Quarterly.