General SessionS

Charlie Cook is widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading authorities on U.S. elections and political trends. He founded the independent, nonpartisan Cook Political Report in 1984, serving as editor and publisher for 37 years, stepping down in 2021.

Covering and analyzing U.S. elections and domestic political trends, The New York Times once referred to Cook Political Report as “a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative” while CBS News’ Bob Schieffer called it “the bible of the political community.”

In addition to lecturing, Cook remains a contributor to Cook Political Report and is a columnist and political analyst for National Journal. He is also a co-author of the 2020 and 2022 editions of The Almanac of American Politics.

Al Hunt, in The Wall Street Journal, referred to Cook as “the Picasso of election analysis.” The late David Broder of The Washington Post, long considered "the dean of the Washington political press corps," once wrote that Cook is “perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races.”

Cook has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and on ABC’s This Week. He’s also served as an election night analyst for CBS and CNN.

In 2010, Cook received the American Political Science Association’s prestigious Carey McWilliams Award to honor “a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics." In 2013, he was a resident fellow at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics.