Dana Bash is CNN’s chief political correspondent, anchor of Inside Politics with Dana Bash, and co-anchor of State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. The award-winning journalist is a key player in the network’s political coverage, conducting high-profile interviews with candidates and frequently serving as a moderator for presidential debates and town hall specials. A shrewd observer of all things Washington, Bash leaves audiences informed and engaged on topics ranging from the national political mood and the implications of important current events to women in politics and issues affecting Jewish communities.

Bash’s first book, America’s Deadliest Election, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. It tells a story of corruption, extreme polarization, contested election results, coup attempts, and mass violence, but it’s not a contemporary history of the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. Through the lens of the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election that saw two governors take office, more than 150 Black men killed in the Colfax Massacre for trying to vote, and a SCOTUS ruling that paved the way for 100 years of Jim Crow laws, Bash reveals a little-known history that changed the course of American politics. With many parallels to today’s contentious political environment, the book is a cautionary tale about the fragility of American democracy and what it takes to protect it.

Bash has created many prominent projects for the CNN portfolio. Being… is a series of in-depth conversations with those affecting American policy, politics, and culture, giving viewers an understanding of the human being behind the public face. Badass Women of Washington profiles women from various backgrounds and generations to show how they have shattered glass ceilings on their way up the ranks. Her CNN Special Report Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America is an in-depth look at how antisemitism, once the hate of extremists, became mainstream and explores ways to curb it.

Throughout her storied career, Bash has been the purveyor of many political news-making moments. During the 2024 election cycle, she secured the highly sought-after first interview with Democratic presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. She moderated CNN’s historic Presidential Debate between President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. She also moderated the first and last debates of the 2020 election cycle, six of seven primary debates on both sides of the aisle in 2016, and serves as an anchor for CNN’s election night specials.

Equally instrumental in her coverage of Capitol Hill, Bash broke the news that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy would not be running for Speaker of the House, conducted Speaker John Boehner’s final interview on his last day in office, and served as the lead correspondent covering Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi testimony. She has secured several key interviews with lawmakers, including Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to talk about his gay marriage reversal, the groundbreaking interview with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and her husband Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and the first interviews with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after each member’s Senate filibuster.

A journalist whose work has measurable impact, Bash won RTCA’s Joan S. Barone Award for her original reporting on a STOCK Act loophole that led Congress to pass legislation to close it. She is also a winner of the National Press Foundation’s Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and a three-time recipient of the Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress.

Bash graduated cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in political communications from George Washington University.