The midterm elections are less than two weeks away, and eight George Washington University graduates are seeking another term in House, Senate or gubernatorial races from California to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Seven candidates are running for reelection to their current seats in public office. The eighth—USVI Delegate Donna Christensen, M.D. ’70—is seeking the territory’s governorship after three terms in the House of Representatives.
The data website Find The Best lists GW as the alma mater for 12 members of Congress—fifth-most among all universities. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), B.A. ’85, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), J.D. ’64, are among the current members of Congress who attended the university.
“There is a tradition of public service at GW that attracts a lot of students with a real bent for elected office,” said Matthew Dallek, assistant professor of political management in the Graduate School of Political Management. “While other universities have a number of sitting members of Congress, the fact that there are eight GW alumni [running this year] says something about the ethos here.”
George Washington Today’s James Irwin spoke with Dr. Dallek about the eight campaigns and candidates and combed through The Washington Post Election Lab—a forecasting site powered by GW Associate Professor of Political Science John Sides and his colleagues at The Monkey Cage—to analyze the races. Most of the GW alumni, according to Dr. Sides’ team, Dr. Dallek’s insight and aggregate polling sites FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, are expected to win. Some are big names and rising stars in Washington.
