Paul S. Herrnson is director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship and professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. He is author of Congressional Elections: Campaigning at Home and in Washington and Party Campaigning in the 1980s. He is editor or coeditor of several volumes, including Playing Hardball: Campaigning for the U.S. Congress; Campaigns and Elections: Contemporary Case Studies; After the Revolution: PACs, Lobbies, and the Republican Congress; Fighting the Good Fight: How Political Candidates Struggle to Win Elections Without Losing Their Souls, and The Interest Group Connection: Electioneering, Lobbying, and Policymaking in Washington. He also edits the book series Real Politics in America.

Dr. Herrnson holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is principal investigator on the Campaign Assessment and Candidate Outreach Project, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. He teaches courses on political parties, elections, and Congress and is the recipient of several teaching awards, including an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Maryland. He has served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow and worked on numerous campaigns for state and federal office. Dr. Herrnson has advised Congress, the Federal Election Commission, the Maryland General Assembly, and the State of Maryland's Commission to Revise the Election Code on campaign finance, ballot access, and political parties.