His research is at the intersection of big data and politics, with a focus on American Politics. Among his research contributions is the development of quantitative methods for measuring ideological preferences using campaign contributions. This provides a unified approach to measuring political preferences for a wide array of political actors, which are made available as part of the Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME). His current research examines how the challenges of early fundraising, and the advantages provided by a candidate's professional network, have been instrumental in sustaining deep representational imbalances in Congress. His work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Political Analysis, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, and JAMA Internal Medicine.