Is Being Named to The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People List a Blessing or a Curse?

Nearly one-third of the members of Congress who made the list prior to the last election cycle eventually lost their seat, lost a race for higher office, retired, or resigned in scandal

On Wednesday, The Hill released their ninth annual 50 Most Beautiful People list and five members of the U.S. House and Senate made the cut: Republican New Hampshire U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican U.S. Representatives Michele Bachmann (MN-06) and Nan Hayworth (NY-19), and Democratic U.S. Representatives Jim Himes (CT-04) and Bobby Scott (VA-03).

Since its first release in 2004, a total of 60 members of the two chambers have made the list which now boasts 450 alumni from Paul Ryan to Nancy Pelosi to scores of staffers.

However, things have not always worked out as planned for these men and women after being designated as one of The Hill’s most beautiful.

A Smart Politics analysis of The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People List finds nearly one-third of the members of Congress listed from 2004 through 2010 are no longer in political office (15 of 48, or 31.3 percent).

(Members listed after 2010 have not yet gone up for reelection).

To be sure, there have been many success stories of those who have received this playful honor from The Hill.

A total of 28 members of Congress have held their seat since being named to the list – not counting the 12 individuals named since the Election of 2010.

Another five individuals have successfully run or been appointed to a higher political office, with Barack Obama the most distinguished alumnus of the group (making the list as a U.S. Senator in the Class of 2005).

Other members of Congress who went on to a higher office are:

· Colorado Democrat Mark Udall (Class of 2004): Won reelection to the House in 2004 and 2006 and then won Colorado’s U.S. Senate race in 2008.

· New York Republican John McHugh (Class of 2006): Won reelection to the House in 2006 and 2008 and was appointed Secretary of the Army in 2009.

· Puerto Rico Republican Luis Fortuño (Class of 2006): Won the Puerto Rico gubernatorial election of 2008.

· Oklahoma Republican Mary Fallin (Class of 2007): Won reelection to the House in 2008 and Oklahoma’s gubernatorial contest in 2010.

Additionally, several rumored Republican names on Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential list are veterans of The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People list: John Thune (Class of 2005), Paul Ryan (2008), Marco Rubio (2011), and Kelly Ayotte (2012).

But it has not all turned up roses for The Hill’s beauties.

Five “Most Beautiful” alumni eventually lost reelection to their congressional seat:

· Indiana Republican Chris Chocola (Class of 2004) lost his House seat in 2006.

· South Dakota Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (Class of 2004) lost her House seat in 2010 (to Kristi Noem, an alumnus from 2011).

· Mississippi Democrat Gene Taylor (Class of 2004) lost his House seat in 2010.

· Oregon Republican Gordon Smith (Class of 2005) lost his U.S. Senate seat in 2008.

· Colorado Democrat Betsy Markey (Class of 2010) lost her House seat in 2010.

Another four members of Congress got a bit greedy and lost their bids for higher political office:

· North Carolina Democrat John Edwards (Class of 2004) lost his Vice-Presidential bid in 2004 (as well as two presidential nomination runs).

· Tennessee Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. (Class of 2004) lost his U.S. Senate race in 2006.

· Indiana Democrat Brad Ellsworth (Class of 2007) lost his U.S. Senate race in 2010.

· South Carolina Republican Gresham Barrett (Class of 2008) lost his party’s gubernatorial nomination in 2010 to Nikki Haley.

Another six members of Congress resigned or retired, some in good standing…

· New York Republican Jack Quinn (Class of 2004) did not seek reelection to his House seat in 2004.

· Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel (Class of 2004) did not seek reelection to his U.S. Senate seat in 2008.

· Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh (Class of 2004) did not seek reelection to his U.S. Senate seat in 2010.

· Virginia Republican John Warner (Class of 2008) did not seek reelection to his U.S. Senate seat in 2008.

…and some under the cloud of scandal:

· Nevada Republican John Ensign (Class of 2006) resigned from his U.S. Senate seat in 2011 after a drawn-out scandal involving an extramarital affair that led to investigations by the FBI, FEC, and Senate Ethics Committee.

· New York Republican Vito Fossella (Class of 2008) did not seek reelection to his House seat after a DUI arrest and the revelation he had had an extramarital affair that resulted in a child.

And what will be the fate of the remaining 40 members of The Hill’s list after the 2012 election?

· Three of the nine remaining U.S. Senators from the various annual installments are up for reelection this November: Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell (Class of 2004), Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown (2007), and Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown (2010).

· One House member is retiring: North Carolina Democrat Heath Shuler (Class of 2007).

· Two House members are seeking U.S. Senate seats: Florida Republican Connie Mack (Class of 2007) and North Carolina Democrat Martin Heinrich (2009).

· Twenty-eight other House members are seeking reelection to their seat, with some designated as potentially vulnerable in 2012 by D.C.’s leading prognosticators including Nan Hayworth (NY-18), Michael Grimm (NY-11), Mary Bono Mack (CA-36), and Michele Bachmann (MN-06).

All told, 32 Republicans and 28 Democrats from the U.S. House and Senate have made The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People list over the last nine years.

Thirty-eight of these have been men (of which there is a much larger number in the two chambers) compared to 22 women.

Members of Congress Named to The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People List, 2004-2012

Year	Name	State	Party	Chamber
2012	Michele Bachmann	Minnesota	Republican	House
2012	Kelly Ayotte	New Hampshire	Republican	Senate
2012	Jim Himes	Connecticut	Democrat	House
2012	Nan Hayworth	New York	Republican	House
2012	Bobby Scott	Virginia	Democrat	House
2011	Adam Kinzinger	Illinois	Republican	House
2011	Kristi Noem	South Dakota	Republican	House
2011	Cedric Richmond	Louisiana	Democrat	House
2011	Michael Grimm	New York	Republican	House
2011	Marco Rubio	Florida	Republican	Senate
2011	Lisa Murkowski	Alaska	Republican	Senate
2011	Hansen Clarke	Michigan	Democrat	House
2010	Kirsten Gillibrand	New York	Democrat	Senate
2010	Judy Chu	California	Democrat	House
2010	Jesse Jackson, Jr.	Illinois	Democrat	House
2010	Duncan Hunter	California	Republican	House
2010	Scott Brown	Massachusetts	Republican	Senate
2010	Anna Eshoo	California	Democrat	House
2009	Martin Heinrich	New Mexico	Democrat	House
2009	Maxine Waters	California	Democrat	House
2009	Dave Reichert	Washington	Republican	House
2009	Betsy Markey	Colorado	Democrat	House
2009	Jackie Speier	California	Democrat	House
2009	Aaron Schock	Illinois	Republican	House
2009	Richard Burr	North Carolina	Republican	Senate
2008	Gresham Barrett	South Carolina	Republican	House
2008	Paul Ryan	Wisconsin	Republican	House
2008	Betty Sutton	Ohio	Democrat	House
2008	John Warner	Virginia	Republican	Senate
2008	Vito Fossella	New York	Republican	House
2007	Brad Ellsworth	Indiana	Democrat	House
2007	Nancy Pelosi	California	Democrat	House
2007	Connie Mack	Florida	Republican	House
2007	Sherrod Brown	Ohio	Democrat	Senate
2007	Yvette Clark	New York	Democrat	House
2007	Mary Fallin	Oklahoma	Republican	House
2007	Heath Shuler	North Carolina	Democrat	House
2006	Luis Fortuno	Puerto Rico	Republican	House
2006	John Ensign	Nevada	Republican	Senate
2006	John Boehner	Ohio	Republican	House
2006	Debbie Wasserman-Schultz	Florida	Democrat	House
2006	John McHugh	New York	Republican	House
2005	Cathy McMorris (Rodgers)	Washington	Republican	House
2005	Barack Obama	Illinois	Democrat	Senate
2005	John Thune	South Dakota	Republican	Senate
2005	Marsha Blackburn	Tennessee	Republican	House
2005	Charles Dent	Pennsylvania	Republican	House
2005	Gordon Smith	Oregon	Republican	Senate
2004	Gene Taylor	Mississippi	Democrat	House
2004	John Edwards	North Carolina	Democrat	Senate
2004	Mary Bono (Mack)	California	Republican	House
2004	Harold Ford, Jr.	Tennessee	Democrat	House
2004	Stephanie Herseth (Sandlin)	South Dakota	Democrat	House
2004	Chris Chocola	Indiana	Republican	House
2004	Mark Udall	Colorado	Democrat	House
2004	Maria Cantwell	Washington	Democrat	Senate
2004	Chuck Hagel	Nebraska	Republican	Senate
2004	Evan Bayh	Indiana	Democrat	Senate
2004	Jack Quinn	New York	Republican	House
2004	Ron Kind	Wisconsin	Democrat	House

Table compiled by Smart Politics from reports by The Hill.

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