Nia-Malika Henderson is a senior political analyst for CNN, reporting on and analyzing the politics, policies and people shaping Washington and the nation. During the 2016 election, 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. In 2020, she reported on the Democratic presidential primary and on Trump’s re-election bid. Henderson regularly appears as a panelist for CNN’s Inside Politics, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and The Lead with Jake Tapper.

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 at Yale University and journalism from Columbia University.

She lives with her wife and daughter in Washington.

Nia-Malika's discussion group is titled Covering the 2024 Election in Real Time.