David L. Leal is an Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He received a PhD in Political Science from Harvard University and a BA in Political Science from Stanford University. In addition to state politics, his research interests include Latino politics--particularly Latino political behavior and public opinion--and public policy. He has published over thirty journal articles and book chapters on these and other topics. Dr. Leal was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow from 1998 to 1999 and is currently a member of the APSA Task Forc...