Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto

Dr. Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto is a senior fellow for the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy. She is also a Visiting Scholar at the University of Texas School of Government. Formerly, she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and a Faculty Fellow at Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research. DeFrancesco Soto was recently named one of the top 12 scholars in the country by Diverse magazine.

Dr. DeFrancesco Soto’s academic work focuses on: campaigns and elections, political marketing, race and ethnic politics, and immigration. Her academic research has been widely published in scholarly journals and edited volumes. In 2008, Dr. DeFrancesco Soto was Northwestern University’s principal investigator for the Big Ten Battleground Poll, a public opinion survey of voters for the 2008 Presidential election. She is currently working on a book manuscript that analyzes the emergence of conservative feminism.

Dr. DeFrancesco Soto is a regular political analyst for Univision and CNN en Espanol. Most recently, she provided analysis of the 2011 Chicago Mayoral election on Univision, Fox Chicago, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, NPR, and Sirius XM. In 2008 and 2010, she served as a primary expert and analyst for CNN en Espanol’s election coverage. Dr. DeFrancesco Soto has also appeared on MSNBC, the Today Show and the Situation Room. She is a regular blogger for POLITICO’S Arena, Huffington Post, and Latino Decisions.

Dr. DeFrancesco Soto received her Ph.D. from Duke University in 2007 during which time she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.