Mindy Romero

Biography

Mindy Romero is a Research Assistant Professor and the founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID), formerly California Civic Engagement Project, at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy in Sacramento. Romero is a political sociologist and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on political behavior and race/ethnicity, and seeks to explain patterns of voting and political underrepresentation, particularly among youth and communities of color in California and the U.S.

Romero has been invited to speak about civic engagement and political rights in numerous venues, testifying before the National Commission on Voting Rights and the California Legislature, among others. Her research has been cited in major news outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, Politico and the Huffington Post. She has also been a frequent guest on National Public Radio, Capital Public Radio, and several other NPR-affiliated stations in California. She is a regular op-ed contributor to the Sacramento Bee.

Romero works with a wide array of policymakers, elected officials, voter education groups and community advocates to strengthen political participation and representation. She is currently a member of the Public Policy Institute Statewide Survey Advisory Committee, President of the Board of California Common Cause, and former Vice-Chair of the Social Services Commission for the City of Davis.

Selected Publications

• Merrolla, J., Nemerever, Z., Lockhart, M., Kousser, T., Romero, M., & Hill, S. (2022). Emotional Reactions to COVID-19 Projections and Consequences for Protective Policies and Personal Behavior. Political Psychology, 44(5).
• Lockhart, M., Hill, S. J., Merolla, J., Romero, M., & Kousser, T. (2020). America’s electorate is increasingly polarized along partisan lines about voting by mail during the COVID-19 crisis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(40), 24640-24642.