Mike Latner never gave much thought to statistics or quantitative analysis while he was at California State University, Chico, until he was encouraged by a professor to write a paper, using quantitative methods, for SSRIC’s annual Social Science Student Symposium (S4) conference. Latner wrote the paper, attended the conference at San Francisco State and won the award for the best paper of the conference.
The experience fundamentally inspired Latner’s career choices. Following graduation, he worked for four years at the Field Research Corp., a California public opinion research firm. He attended graduate school to broaden his quantitative skills and to make a career of using data to better understand government and politics. After receiving his doctorate in political science from University of California, Irvine, Dr. Latner accepted an offer at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, eventually becoming an associate professor of political science.
He since has become a nationally recognized expert on gerrymandering and legislative redistricting. His book with co-authors Anthony McGann, Charles Anthony Smith and Alex Keena, “Gerrymandering in America: The House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Popular Sovereignty” (Cambridge University Press), demonstrates that partisan gerrymandering became noticeably more common after the 2010 census. He is also the current Kendall Voting Rights Fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C.