Chandler L'Hommedieu is a Ph.D. student studying American Politics and Methods. His current research interests include political psychology, behaviors, attitudes, public opinion, and mass-media.

Before Ohio State, he received a BA (majored: political science and history, minored: statistics and sociology) from The University of Florida. 

L'Hommedieu's Mershon supported research project is "Weaponized Words: How Stronger Elite Messaging Shapes Issue Evaluations and Implications for Human Security."

Project abstract:
Political elites worldwide have weaponized rhetoric against marginalized groups to mobilize support for policies that undermine human and environmental well-being, security, and public health. This project examines how the emotional appeal (pathos) of elite messaging facilitates issue adoption and shifts recipients’ policy positions toward the elite’s stance. To test this theory, I propose a novel experimental design that leverages artificial intelligence to generate textual treatments with a continuous distribution of pathos and message strength. The findings will illuminate the causal mechanisms through which elites shape public opinion, offering important contributions to the study of public-elite relations and security.