Jesse Wegman

Jesse Wegman (born about 1973 ) is an American journalist, author, and legal scholar who serves as a Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. He is best known for his extensive work on the Supreme Court of the United States, electoral reform, and American constitutional history. From 2013 to 2025, he was a member of the The New York Times editorial board. He later joined the Brennan Center for Justice as a Senior Fellow.

Wegman is the author of two major books on American democracy: Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College (2020) and The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution (2026).

Early life and education Wegman is a native of Massachusetts and spent his youth growing up in Boston and Los Angeles. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology from Wesleyan University in 1996, where he completed a senior thesis. He subsequently earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the New York University School of Law in 2005, where he focused on constitutional law and civil liberties.

He clerked for Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Interviews of Jesse Wegman — Full-text transcript of Wegman's broadcast interview discussing his new book about James Wilson, a Founding Father. — A full-length profile interview exploring his transition to the Brennan Center for Justice and previewing his biography, The Lost Founder. — A Q&A interview breaking down the structural effects of state-level winner-take-all rules. — Transcript of a joint media interview on executive branch accountability and the popular vote. — Transcript of Wegman's interview discussing the history of the Electoral College, the many efforts to revamp it and why it would be better to choose the president based on the popular vote. — Full-text transcript of Wegman's broadcast interview discussing constitutional history and democratic representation.

Personal Wegman is the son of David H. Wegman of Auburndale, Massachusetts, and the late Peggy Nelson Wegman (died in 2009). David H. Wegman retired as the dean of the School of Health and Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Peggy Nelson Wegman was a clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Auburndale, Massachusetts.

Jesse Wegman married Kyra Himmelbaum in August 2012 in Rockport, Massachusetts. Himmelbaum was an actress known professionally as Kyra Miller, and an assistant professor of acting at Tulane University.