About:

Sharon Wright Austin is professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. She is an expert on voting behavior, election results, the Electoral College, misinformation, in-person voting and forecasting. She can also speak to felony disenfranchisement, voter suppression, minority voting behavior, Black women’s politics, presidential politics and city mayors.

Her research focuses on African-American women’s political behavior, African-American mayoral elections, rural African-American political activism, and African-American political behavior. She is the author of “Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis” (Garland 2000); “The Transformation of Plantation Politics in the Mississippi Delta: Black Politics, Concentrated Poverty, and Social Capital in the Mississippi Delta” (State University of New York Press 2006); and “The Caribbeanization of Black Politics: Race, Group Consciousness, and Political Participation in America” (State University of New York Press 2018).

She has also published articles in the National Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, the Journal of Black Studies, and Politics and Policy, as well as several book chapters. She is currently editing a book entitled “Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors” (under contract, Temple University Press). She is also writing a book-length manuscript entitled “Black Female Presidential Politics.”

Relevant Media:

• Kamala Harris’ connection to Caribbean voters could make difference in Florida in WEIS Radio
• Here’s what you need to know, as in-person early voting begins Monday in Brevard in Florida Today
• The making of Kamala Harris in the New Statesman
• ‘How is this helpful to working class?’ Indian River NAACP says of early voting hours in TCPalm
• The ‘law and order’ Democrat that Biden should pick for VP in CNN

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