Harvard Law School graduates across the country won political victories today as part of the nation’s midterm elections. Two of the biggest winners were alumni from the 1980s. In New York, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer ’84 was elected governor by a comfortable margin.
In Massachusetts, the election of Deval Patrick ’82 continues a streak of Harvard Law School governors. Four out of the last five governors elected in Massachusetts graduated from HLS, including Michael Dukakis ’60, William Weld ’70, and current Governor Mitt Romney ’75, who did not seek a second term.
Elsewhere in the country, two incumbent alumni governors — Jennifer Granholm ’87 (D-Mich.) and James Doyle ’72 (D-Wis.) — were each re-elected. Two other alumni currently serve as governors, but were not on the ballot today: Tim Kaine ’83 (D-Va.) and Anibal Acevedo-Vila LL.M ’87 of Puerto Rico.
At the congressional level, the victory of John Sarbanes ’88 (D-Md.) increases the school’s alumni representation in the U.S. House from 11 to 12, depending on the final outcome of a race in Louisiana that will be decided in a December 9th runoff. Three other graduates — John Cranley ’99 (D-OH), Lois Murphy ’87 (D-Penn.) and Mike Whalen ’78 (R-Iowa) — each lost hard-fought races as challengers.
Ten alumni currently serve in the Senate, but two did not run for re-election this year: Paul Sarbanes ’60 (D-Md.) and James Jeffords ’62 (I-Vt.) will retire in January. Jan T. Sing ’75 (R-Del.) ran unsuccessfully as a challenger, which will leave the law school with eight alumni serving in the Senate.
CURRENT HARVARD LAW ALUMNI WHO SERVE AS GOVERNORS: Anibal Acevedo-Vila LL.M ’87 (D-Puerto Rico) James Doyle ’72 (D-Wis.) Jennifer Granholm ’87 (D-Mich.) Tim Kaine ’83 (D-Va.) Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) — did not seek re-election
CURRENT ALUMNI IN THE U.S. SENATE: Michael Crapo ’77 (R-Idaho) Elizabeth Dole ’65 (R-NC) Russell Feingold ’79 (D-Wis.) James Jeffords ’62 (I-Vt.) — did not seek re-election Carl M. Levin ’59 (D-Mich.) Barack Obama ’91 (D-Ill.) Jack Reed ’82 (D-RI) Paul Sarbanes ’60 (D-Md.) — did not seek re-election Charles Schumer ’74 (D-NY) Theodore Stevens ’50 (R-Alaska)
CURRENT ALUMNI IN THE U.S. HOUSE: Tom Allen ’74 (D-Maine) John Barrow ’79 (D-Ga.) Jim Cooper ’80 (D-Tenn.) Artur Davis ’93 (D-Ala.) Barney Frank ’77 (D-Mass.) Jane Harman ’69 (D-Calif.) William Jefferson ’72 (D-La.) Sander Levin ’57 (D-Mich.) Thomas Petri ’65 (R-Wis.) Brad Sherman ’79 (D-Calif.) Adam Schiff ’85 (D-Calif.)