The U.S. Senate’s freshman class includes a familiar name: Mitt Romney J.D./M.B.A. ’75.
The former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate won election Nov. 6 as the junior senator from Utah.
Romney joins seven other alumni in the Senate, including those who were up for re-election this year: Tim Kaine ’83 (D-Va.), who in 2016 lost his bid to become the first Harvard Law School graduate elected vice president, and Ted Cruz ’95 (R-Texas), who beat challenger Beto O’Rourke. Former Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also won re-election and is now reportedly mulling a potential presidential bid in 2020.
Five other HLS alumni serving in the U.S. Senate were not up for re-election: Tom Cotton ’02 (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo ’77 (R-Idaho), Jack Reed ’82 (D-R.I.), Chuck Schumer ’74 (D-N.Y) and Mark Warner ’80 (D-Va.).
In the House, three alumni are part of the newly elected Democratic majority. Andy Levin ’94 (D-Mich.) won the seat previously occupied by his father, Sander Levin ’57, who will retire at the end of the current Congress.
The resume of Antonio Delgado ’05 (D-N.Y.)includes time as a Rhodes Scholar, independent music label founder and Big Law associate.
Katie Porter ’01 (D-Calif.) followed the career trajectory of her law school mentor, Elizabeth Warren, from bankruptcy law professor to congresswoman. Porter represents Orange County after a close race called nine days after the election.
Other HLS alumni won their U.S. House re-election races: Anthony Brown ’92 (D-Md.) District 4, Joaquin Castro ’00 (D-Texas) District 20, Jim Cooper ’80 (D-Tenn.) District 5, Josh Gottheimer ’04 (D-N.J.) District 5, Joseph Kennedy III ’09 (D-Mass.) District 4, Raja Krishnamoorthi ’00 (D-Ill.) District 8, Jamie Raskin ’87 (D-Md.) District 8, John Sarbanes ’88 (D-Md.) District 3, Adam Schiff ’85 (D-Calif.) District 28, Terri Sewell ’92 (D-Ala.) District 7, Brad Sherman ’79 (D-Calif.) District 30 and Juan Vargas ’91 (D-Calif.) District 51.
Two alumni were defeated: Jay Webber ’00, who ran as a Republican against Democrat Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, and Republican Robert Flanders ’74, who lost to incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in Rhode Island’s Senate race.