Nia-Malika Henderson

Nia-Malika Henderson is a senior political analyst for CNN, regularly appearing on "Inside Politics with Dana Bash," "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and "The Lead with Jake Tapper." Henderson plays a key role in CNN’s political coverage, offering analysis and reporting on breaking news, presidential and midterm elections.

She has also written regularly about race, gender, demographics and cultural issues.

In 2020, she reported on the Democratic presidential primary and on Trump’s re-election bid.

During the 2016 campaign cycle, she reported on the Democratic and Republican candidates, covering Sen. Bernie Sanders’ insurgent campaign, Ben Carson’s unlikely bid and Donald Trump’s realignment of the Republican party.

Henderson was a national political reporter for The Washington Post, where she covered the White House, the 2012 presidential campaign, the 2010 midterm elections and anchored the 2012 election blog. She also covered the first two years of the Obama administration for Politico and was Newsday’s lead reporter covering Obama’s 2008 campaign, the Democratic primary race and the Democratic National Convention.

In 2005, Henderson was part of the Newsday team named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for a series on the history of hip hop. Before joining Newsday’s national staff, she wrote for The Baltimore Sun.

Henderson was a double major in literature and cultural anthropology at Duke University and earned master’s degrees in American studies from Yale University and journalism from Columbia University. She is on the board of visitors for Duke’s Trinity College.

Henderson lives with her wife and daughter in Washington.