Patrick Tuohey

Patrick Tuohey is co-founder and policy director of the Better Cities Project which aims to deliver the best in public policy research from around the country to local leaders, communities, and voters. He works to foster understanding of the consequences — often unintended — of local policies regarding economic development, taxation, education, policing and transportation. In 2021, Patrick served as a fellow of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas and is currently a visiting fellow at the Yorktown Foundation for Public Policy in Virginia.

Prior to founding BCP, Patrick served as the director of municipal policy at the Missouri-based Show-Me Institute. Patrick’s essays have been published widely in print and online in the Midwest and around the country including newspapers around the country, The Hill and Reason Magazine. His essays on economic development, education and policing have been published in the three most recent editions of the Greater Kansas City Urban League’s “State of Black Kansas City.” Patrick’s work on the intersection of those topics spurred parents and activists to oppose economic development incentive projects where they are not needed and was a contributing factor in the KCPT documentary, “Our Divided City” about crime, urban blight and public policy in Kansas City.

Patrick operated his own corporate market research company in Maryland and then relocated to Kansas City in 2005. He previously served as an aide to U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) in Washington, DC, and as director of communications for Frank Luntz’s polling shop, representing the firm and its research to members of the U.S. Senate and House as well as regularly attending congressional staff meetings. He has developed research methodologies for clients such as Monsanto, Anheuser-Busch, the National Sheriffs Association, the Christian Coalition, the Center for Alcohol and Substance Abuse, ABC News, and NBC News. Patrick received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 1993.