Dr. Jody C Baumgartner is the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Political Science at East Carolina University. He has numerous books, authored and edited, to his credit. In 2017, he edited The Internet and the 2016 Presidential Campaign with Terri Towner, and in 2018, Political Humor in a Changing Media Landscape: A New Generation of Research with Amy Becker. He has also written or collaborated on numerous articles and book chapters on political humor, the vice presidency, and other subjects.

Dr. Peter L. Francia is the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Director of the Center for Survey Research and is professor in the Department of Political Science at East Carolina University. He is the author of numerous academic publications on various topics related to American elections. His books include The Financiers of Congressional Elections: Investors, Ideologues, and Intimates, co-authored with John C. Green, Paul S. Herrnson, Lynda W. Powell, and Clyde Wilcox; The Future of Organized Labor in American Politics; and the volume, Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying in the United States, co-edited with Burdett A. Loomis and Dara Z. Strolovitch. Dr. Francia's insights on American politics have been included in the press accounts of national media outlets including CNN, National Public Radio, and the Wall Street Journal.