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Meredith Conroy

@meredithconroy.bsky.social
5.6K followers 672 following 1.7K posts

Political Scientist at CSUSB studying gender and media, 538 contributor (RIP), & I lead research @ the Geena Davis Institute. Fan of elections & multiracial pluralistic democracy. Idahoan. Subscribe to Gender Gap: meredithconroy.substack.com

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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 4h
And how will they do in November? That has a lot to do with where they were nominated. Half won in safe Democratic districts.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I love TV so much! This was hard, but I've come to terms with my picks. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Is your favorite fictional president "accidental"?? If she's a woman, the answer is probably yes. I had some fun putting this together (and watching TV!). What political dramas/comedies did I miss? substack.com/home/post/p-...
Geena Davis as Mackenzie Allen in Commander in ChlefAllison Janney as Grace Penn in The DiplomatJulia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer in VeepBellamy Young as Millie Grant in Scandal
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
How often do we get to see women presidents on screen? And how often are those presidencies more “legitimate”? I looked at 11 political dramas from the last 2 decades to see. Out of 41 presidents on screen, just 13 were women. Of those, only 5 were elected outright (38%), while 64% of men are.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Best supporting actress in a comedy -- Kate O'Flynn Widow's Bay! I met her colleague Dale Dickey on Thursday
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I clipped this. It’s worth listening to in full. I’m thrilled Bouie brought up polls about maintained support for DEI from 2025. I’m looking at Pew polling about BLM from the same time frame and triple checked it because public support also hasnt declined to the degree some discourse would suggest
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Zero percent surprised my map is the inverse of Trende
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
But zoom out, and all this doesn't amount to even 30% of congressional seats. Without both parties contributing to women's representation, the institution will never reach gender parity. meredithconroy.substack.com/p/the-year-o...
area chart showing share of all 535 members of congress who are men and women, from 1968 to 2024.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
These big gaps in who runs translates into big gaps in who is elected. Democrats have made enormous gains in electing women since 1970. The 1992 "year of the woman" was an inflection point. meredithconroy.substack.com/p/the-year-o...
line chart with three lines. The number of all women, D women, and R women in Congress from 1970 yo 2020. D line is steadily up. R line is up but flagging.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
After a bit of a slouch in 2024, Democratic women are back this cycle, running for Congress in near-record numbers. meredithconroy.substack.com/p/the-year-o...
Stacked horizontal bar chart from 1990 to 2026; showing number of women running as Ds and Rs in election cycles
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
My coauthors and I joined @ddhqdata.bsky.social to talk about our analysis of primary endorsements w/@fiftyplusone.news TL;DR: Trump bump is supreme in the GOP. Progressive groups are getting in the game more. & Emily's List is a lil wobbly. Listen here decisiondeskhq.substack.com/p/podcast-wh...
screen grab of the video recording featuring 4 faces and a chart showing Trump's endorsement record.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Icymi TMZ is asking the tough questions. Might need to start a new series called thirsty for Ossoff 🫣
Screenshot of an Instagram post that shows John ossoff reacting to a TMZ reporter telling
Him he has bde
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Endorsement orgs matter, but GOP groups get in the game less. @emilyslist.bsky.social has endorsed in 22 open primaries so far, compared to just 8 from Winning for Women (Rs) and 14 for Maggie's List (R).
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The seat-quality gap is a big story. - 54% of Dem tossup-seat nominees are women, vs. just 15% (2 candidates) for the GOP (both incumbents). - Women are 44% of Dem's solid blue nominees, vs 14% of GOP's solid red nominees.
heat map table, showing % of all D and R nominees who are women, by district lean. D women are nominated across all types of races, but especially toss ups (54%). GOP women are just 15% of toss up nominees so far.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
baby bowser
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
New GENDER GAP: In 2020, Republican men were more than two times as likely than Dem men to see callout culture as "unfair punishment" (68% vs 27%). By 2025, they'd converged almost exactly (43% vs 45%). I wrote about it for Gender Gap. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Share of men and women within each party you believe that calling someone out on social media for something offensive is "unfair punishment."
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Just started seeing these yesterday in fact! Bookmarked this one.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Joined @perrybaconjr.bsky.social and @titonka.bsky.social to talk about my favorite subject: MANLY MEN! Which is really a conversation about authenticity, why most women get boxed out, and what this moment tells us about the Dems right now. Full ep. here: newrepublic.substack.com/p/all-politi...
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I’ve been told that photos of my dad when he was young look like Lionel Messi. I kind of see it?? Younger Messi.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Over the weekend I wrote about the "feminize your opponent" strategy the GOP is deploying in the Texas Senate race and its long history. Read here! meredithconroy.substack.com/p/how-femini...
screenshot of text from the story: Feminizing your opponent is simple: A deliberate effort to cast your opponent as insufficiently male (e.g., too soft, too weak, or too in touch with his feelings).(L) James Talarico (R) Ken Paxton
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Ken Paxton called his opponent "Low-T Talarico" and "Tofu Talarico," before the votes were even counted. This is a political strategy with a 200-year history, updated for the culture war moment and the Trump base primed for aggrievement. New post on Gender Gap 👇 open.substack.com/pub/meredith...
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
And whatever this energy is!!
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Just say you hate women, my guy!!!!
Screenshot of a tweet from Matt Stoller: "Graham Platner represents a rejection of Dem HR lady politics."
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
With 48% reporting, Becerra is edging out Steyer for the top 2 right now in CA gov primary. CA has a jungle primary so it’ll likely be the Republican Steven Hilton against one of those 2 Dems.
Chart with votes so far in CA GOV primary

Hilton - 27%
Becerra - 26%
Steyer - 20%
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
17% of Gen Z want to be a “Respected Professor”! Sorry kids, we’re all out 🥲!!! H/t @racheljanfaza.bsky.social; data from @today.yougov.com www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/fa...
Graphic showing icons associated with different professions and the share of Gen Z who want those professions. 18% of Gen Z wanna be tech entrepreneur who isn’t famous. 17% wanna be respected professor or intellectual. 14% wanna be a doctor. 12% say they don’t know. 10% say none of these. 11% said full-time parent. 9% said small business owner. 5% said digital crater or influencer. 3% said lawyer.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Well well well wellllll. Not so manly now, are ya Republican men.
Chart showing % of men and women by party, asking who would win in a fight between the respondent and Donald Trump. 82% of D men said they’d win. Just 46% of R men said the same.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
The only good cybertruck. (Spotted in Irvine).
Cybertruck covered in images of white floofy dog, with said white floofy dog in back seat.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
On a flight from ID to CA and sat next to a middle aged man who was watching Altas World News so I looked it up. It’s clearly an AI “journalist” — older white man, with “serious” tone and speaking voice with “newsy” looking backgrounds that make no sense — sharing pro-Trump geopolitical news 🥴
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Geenachella 🎶
Photo of geena Davis as older Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella holding a tshirt that says “GEENAWOULD”
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
While at 538, we charted Cabinet roles held by men/women, since Carter. I updated that for my substack, Gender Gap! And wrote about the precarity of GOP women in politics, even (maybe especially?) for the women who meet their party's terms. meredithconroy.substack.com/p/the-number...
Chart showing 15 Cabinet positions, and green and purple squares to indicate if the role was held by a man or a woman. Columns are admins, and go back to Carter.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Gas is $5.99 at this location in Costa Mesa, California today! Just in time for all the spring breakers🌴☀️ thanks Joe Biden.
Gas pump with 5.99 per gallon regular
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Of all the groups who might be thrilled to attend the SOTU of an addled, unpopular crook, men’s hockey feels like a safe pick! Have fun, boys! Hope you learn something!
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
And a clip about one of the hurdles AOC would see in a primary if she runs: strategic discrimination.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Want to see me talk with my hands? I joined @perrybaconjr.bsky.social @baseballot.bsky.social for a very early 2028 Democratic Presidential Primary draft. It’s a big bench, and a lot can happen. My No. 1 pick drew more skepticism than anticipated😅 open.substack.com/pub/baseball...
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Spotted on the 15 freeway 💇‍♂️ Never have I heard of the California Post 🤷‍♀️
Billboard that says “hair to the throne?” And an image of the top of Gavin Newsom’s head.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Now is the time to push back on your "hysterical friends" !!
Twitter post from @megbasham: So a bunch of Instagram are influencers now posting anti-ICE propaganda on Instagram. Once again, we have women whose primary careers are picking outfits and lipsticks (both things I love!) attempting to become political commentators on an issue for which they possess little understanding. What would be really wonderful to avoid a repeat of 2020 is if all of us conservative women DIDN’T ignore it this time. 

Part of the reason that Black Lives Matter and COVID propaganda was able to take hold was because so many of us sensible women didn’t want to push back against our hysterical friends. We didn’t wanna leave a negative comment on our favorite Instagram influencers black square post. So we just put our head down and ignored it.

We can’t do that anymore. There is an information war being fought against sensible law enforcement. People are easily misled, especially on low information sites like Instagram. I think it is important this time that if you are a conservative with different convictions, speak up and you let them know that all women are not of the same mind.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Instagram influencers of all kinds are getting “political” and they don’t care how many followers they lose. They are posting video of them doing what their account is known for (skiing, golf, cooking), with text overlay reminding their followers that they can’t do X if they’re killed by ICE.
Screenshot of an Instagram post by Vanessa_Chav. It is a video of her skiing and the text on the screen says reminder that although this is a skiing account, it’s gonna get political because you can’t ski Pow if ice murders you.Screenshot of an Instagram post by John_Young_golf. In the video he is golfing on the screen, says reminder that this is a golf account, but golf is political because you can’t golf if you’re executed in the street by a gang from the government.Screenshot of an Instagram post by straight_Lines_and_bourbon. The image is of bourbon and the screen says reminder this is a bourbon account, but I can’t drink bourbon if I shoots me in the face.Screenshot of an Instagram post by Sadiescookiecompany. It’s an image of her putting on her apron and the text on the screen says a reminder that although this is a cookie decorating account, it is actually political because you can’t decorate cookies if 🧊 murders you
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
This from @pbump.com is very clarifying on the role of conspiracy in supplying a shared “reality” and what it means for our current political moment. www.ms.now/opinion/inte...
For generations in American society, ignorance was seen as a drawback and conspiracy theories were relegated to the fringes. In recent decades, however, those who rejected or were inconvenienced by that shared reality have banded together, building a new shared understanding of the world. In that alternate universe, ignorance and rejection of reality serve as validators, indicators of trust. Those within that circle of trust are granted wide latitude to do what they want.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Bowser the cat got a new hair cut. HNY!
White cat in a bow tie
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Unsurprisingly, the New York Post is all in on the MN daycare conspiracy.
screenshot of the New York Post homepage as of 12/31. headline is "WHODUNNIT" and features image of MN daycare manager ("Somali-run) and subhed noting "A rep is claiming somebody broke in and vandalized the center as the national spotlight has been shined on an unfolding billion-dollar fraud scandal involving Minnesota human services."
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Now on my substack, Gender Gap: 5 notable gaps discussed in 2025. 1. leaving the U.S. 2. marriage aspirations 3. social media use 4. loneliness 5. college plans I picked these bc they signal how men/women structure their social lives and are imagining their futures. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Line chart showing the share of men/women ages 18-40 who want to leave the US permanently from 2008 to 2025. In 2025, 40% of women, and 19% of men, in this age cohort say they want to leave.Line chart from 1993 to 2023 showing the share of 12th grader boys and girls who want to get married. In 2023, there is a 23 point gap, with girls less likely to want to get married. Bar chart showing share of men/women who interact with their friends on social media, and how often. 30% of men say "never" compared to 18% of women.Horizontal bar chart showing share of teen girls and teen boys who plan to go to college. 60% of girls but 46% of boys say they plan to go to college.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Everything REALLY is YouTube. Brought to you by Bank of America.
Advert for a CBS x free press debate brought to you by Bank of America, called “has feminism failed women? Liz Plank vs Allie Beth Stuckey”
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
Wow, they are even gamifying this with a leaderboard. Congratulations to Bezos, whose capitulation clearly worked.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
I’m from Meridian Idaho and this article is spot on. What’s happening in Idaho shouldn’t be ignored if you want to understand it the new Republican Party, even though it’s a small state. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Idaho is a case study in geographic self-sorting, a trend across the country. In this land of sagebrush and self-reliance, that means a state that was already solidly red is becoming a magnet for fans of President Trump’s political movement and a laboratory for his policies.

“I hear people moving here talking about themselves as ‘political refugees,’” especially people from Democratic states on the Pacific Coast, said Jason Monks, the Idaho House majority leader and a Republican from Meridian, Idaho.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
VP Kamala Harris at A Day of Unreasonable Conversations focusing on the epidemic of institutional distrust.
Picture of Kamala Harris and Neephesa Collier on a stage at A Day of Unreasonable Conversations
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Short panel on media distrust (and crisis of credibility) at A Day of Unreasonable Conversations and love that Hasan Piker streaming currently lol. @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social is here too and sharp as hell.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
If you want to read more, the best thing I ever wrote for 538 about GOP distrust in media as a social identity: fivethirtyeight.com/features/why...
Line chart from 2000 to 2020, showing D, R, I trust in media. Tanked among R, surged among Ds during Trump's first term.
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Meredith Conroy @meredithconroy.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Doing some course prep, and needed to pull something from the White House... Nice lil chyron they got there.
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