About Jonathan Cervas

I am Jonathan Cervas, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Institute for Strategy and Technology (Political Science) at Carnegie Mellon University, where I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on American politics, research methods, representation, and voting rights. I am also a contributor with the Electoral Innovation Lab at Princeton University and to the non-partisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project.

My research and professional work focus on political institutions, elections, redistricting, and voting rules. I have published fifteen peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in leading outlets across political science, geography, economics, and law, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Political Geography, Social Science Quarterly, Public Choice, and the Election Law Journal. I have given invited talks at Princeton University, the University of Houston, Albany Law School, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and other venues, and I referee for major journals in my field.

Public Service and Redistricting Work

I have extensive experience serving as a court-appointed special master, consultant, and expert witness in redistricting and voting rights cases. My appointments have included:

• New York Communities for Change v. County of Nassau (2025) – Expert witness for the plaintiffs in a New York Voting Rights Act challenge; the county ultimately adopted a remedial map mirroring features of my illustrative plan.
• Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission (2024) – Co-consultant to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in evaluating and recommending remedial legislative maps, resulting in new plans adopted for the 2024 elections.
• Harkenrider v. Hochul (2022) – Appointed special master by the New York Supreme Court to draw remedial Congressional and State Senate maps, implemented in the 2022 election cycle.
• Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission (2021) – Consultant to the bipartisan commission that drew state legislative districts for use through 2030, affirmed unanimously by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
• Moore v. Lee (2022) – Expert witness in a Tennessee state court challenge to the legislative maps; prepared alternative redistricting plans for both chambers.
• Wright v. Sumter County, GA (2020) – Assisted the federal court-appointed special master in crafting a remedial plan to address Voting Rights Act violations.
• Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections (2019) – Assisted in developing remedial districts after a racial gerrymandering ruling.
• Navajo Nation v. San Juan County (2017) – Assisted in creating remedial plans to address constitutional violations in county and school board elections.

Academic Background

I joined Carnegie Mellon University in 2020 as a postdoctoral fellow after earning my M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. My doctoral dissertation, A Quantitative Assessment of the Electoral College, 1790–2020, examined the historical and statistical dimensions of presidential elections. I hold a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.