Claire McDonald
Claire McDonald
Claire McDonald, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is a senior at Williams College studying Political Science and English. Her interests unite constitutional law, criminal justice, and voting rights, and she is currently completing an honors thesis on how different state supreme courts interpret redistricting in the United States. Claire also has conducted constitutionalism research with the Political Science Department, studied carceral systems abroad in Denmark, and completed internships with the D.C. Federal Public Defender’s Office, the U.S. Supreme Court, The Legal Accountability Project, and a local law firm’s government relations team.
As Co-Captain of Williams Moot Court, Claire leads oral argument preparation and debate, has expanded the program’s size and performance, and has won regional competitions and national awards. She also serves as the Chair of American Politics Hiring on the Political Science Department Liaison Committee, volunteers as a ski patroller, and is Social Chair of the Outing Club. In her free time, Claire loves weightlifting, listening to EDM, and is dedicated to her team as a rower, placing second and third in the first varsity eight at the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Division III Championships.
In the United Kingdom, Claire plans to study for an MSc in Political Behaviour followed by an LLM in Public Law, expanding upon her current thesis and eventually obtaining a JD concentrating on voting rights and election law. Ultimately, she aims to unite data-driven election and politics research with comparative constitutional law to foster more inclusive democracies in the US, UK, and globally.