Rachel Bitecofer | |
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![]() Bitecofer in 2020 | |
Born | February 23, 1977 |
Education | University of Oregon (BA) University of Georgia (MA, PhD) |
Rachel Bitecofer (born February 23, 1977) [1] [2] is an American political scientist.
Bitecofer has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. in political science and international affairs from the University of Georgia. In 2015 she became a lecturer at Christopher Newport University and assistant director of the Wason Center for Public Policy, where she conducted polling. In 2019 she applied to convert her position at the university to tenure track, but was denied. She then resigned her position and went to work for the Niskanen Center, a centrist think tank in Washington, D.C. [3]
Bitecofer's analysis has appeared on multiple media platforms including MSNBC and the New York Times. She wrote the 2017 book, The Unprecedented 2016 Presidential Election, on the election of Donald Trump and runs a podcast hosted by Substack titled The Election Whisperer. She runs Strike Pac, a liberal super PAC. [4]
Bitecofer accurately predicted the size of the "Blue Wave" in the 2018 United States midterm elections earlier than other forecasters, [2] projecting that Democrats would gain 42 U.S. House seats in the election; [2] they gained 41 seats. [5] She also advanced the theory that Trump would lose reelection in 2020. [6] [7] [8] [5] Bitecofer argued that the 2020 electorate would see the return of voters who were unmotivated to vote in 2016. [7]
Bitecofer has argued that differential turnout has an increasing role in elections. [2] This view has been criticized by other political analysts like David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report , with others such as Kyle Kondik of The Crystal Ball and Sam Wang offering more support.
She has also argued against Democrats nominating moderate "Blue Dog" candidates, pointing to liberal candidates Stacey Abrams and Beto O'Rourke losing their elections in 2018 by fairly narrow margins. [2]