Derek Wakefield

Professor Derek Wakefield is an Assistant Professor in Political Science and is affiliated with Latin American, Latinx and Caribbean Studies and the Dominguez Center for Data Science. He teaches classes on American Politics, Race and Ethnic Politics, Latino Politics, and Quantitative Methods. His research addresses trends in Latino political behavior with a focus on economic voting, partisan trends, television advertising, and ideology.

Selected Publications

Wakefield, Derek, Bernard Fraga, and Colin Fisk. (2025) “Partisan Change with Generational Turnover: Latino Party Identification from 1989 to 2023.” Journal of Race and Ethnic Politics. DOI: 10.1017/rep.2025.31

Wakefield, Derek. (2025) “It’s the Economy: The Effect of Economic Policy Appeals on Latino Independents.” Political Behavior. DOI: 10.1007/s11109-025-10004-y