The 2026 United States midterm elections have brought renewed attention to Oxford alumni who have entered American political life through Rhodes Scholarships.
Three former scholars currently serve in Congress: Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim and Representative Jim Himes.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore is a fourth former Rhodes Scholar holding prominent elected office.
Five Oxford alumni are contesting elections on Tuesday, including Moore, who is seeking a second term as governor, Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race and Luke Bronin in Connecticut’s first congressional district.
Rhodes Scholars have participated in American politics for more than a century.
Twenty-five former scholars have represented the United States in Congress since the Second World War.
The sequence began with Arkansas Senator J.
William Fulbright, who attended Pembroke College in 1925.
Richard Lugar, a Republican senator who studied at Pembroke in 1954, later said that his Oxford education provided an international perspective.
Moore entered Oxford in 2001 as the Maryland and District of Columbia Rhodes Scholar at Wolfson College.
He graduated from Johns Hopkins University that year and began an MLitt in International Relations at Oxford.
Moore returned to the United States after his first academic year to complete the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning as part of his preparation for service in Afghanistan.
During the interruption, Moore contributed an essay to The American Oxonian, a Rhodes Scholars’ newsletter containing reflections, reviews and class updates.
A non-digitised copy of the essay was central to reconstructing Moore’s time at Oxford.
Luke Bronin was Moore’s first-year roommate at Rewley House in Wellington Square.
The two referred to themselves as the Un-Rewley Boys.
Moore described mixed emotions about leaving Oxford for military training in Georgia and said the transition from university life to Fort Benning had been a shock.
His essay also contrasted his academic year with his military instruction.
Moore represented the Rhodes Trust during a trip to South Africa for the country’s 2002 centenary celebrations and ended the essay on a lighter note.
Thomas Pellathy, another 2001 Wolfson Rhodes Scholar and a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, also wrote for The American Oxonian.
As Moore’s groomsman, Pellathy said the two had narrowly avoided an incident during the Rhodes House Ball.
The essay said Wolfson had won the 2001–02 basketball Cuppers and suggested that Moore may have played for the side after establishing himself as a leading high-school basketball player at Valley Forge Military Academy.
During his first year, Moore joined the newly established male a cappella group Out of the Blue.
According to recollections, the group unexpectedly encountered Bill Clinton while rehearsing at New College.
Clinton’s group asked to see the singers, after which the students performed several songs.
Another account said the visitors arrived in the quadrangle and spoke into their wrists before requesting a performance, which the group delivered with considerable uncertainty.
Moore entered the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election without previous elected office.
He was elected as the state’s first Black governor and subsequently won the Democratic nomination.
A reported polling advantage of 27 points over Republican nominee Dan Cox was recorded.
Moore has also been considered as a possible national candidate in 2026.
Reports said he spent one day in five outside Maryland during his first term.
A gubernatorial debate also saw him decline to commit to serving the full four-year term, prompting further political speculation.
El-Sayed is the Democratic candidate in the Michigan Senate contest against Republican nominee Mike Rogers.
His progressive positions and the prospect of becoming the first Muslim member of the United States Senate have brought national attention during the campaign.
El-Sayed graduated as valedictorian of the University of Michigan while studying biology and political science.
He then received both Marshall and Rhodes Scholarships and went to Oriel College in 2009.
His Rhodes application argued that religious teaching considers saving one life equivalent to saving humanity as a whole.
At Oxford, El-Sayed completed a DPhil in Public Health and worked with the British Heart Foundation’s Health Promotion Research Group.
A former researcher in the group remembered El-Sayed positively and said he was willing to discuss difficult subjects, although the researcher could not recall discussions about public office.
El-Sayed captained the Oxford Blues lacrosse team and earned a Full Blue.
Varsity’s coverage of one match recorded a yellow card for him before Oxford’s 14–9 defeat by the Light Blues.
During his time in Britain, El-Sayed also wrote for The Guardian.
His articles addressed President Obama’s appeal to the Egyptian people, obesity in the United Kingdom and the comparative strengths of British and American democracy.
After returning to Columbia University to complete his medical education, El-Sayed worked in public health and contested the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election.
He received about 30% of the Democratic primary vote and lost to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Donald Trump’s campaign subsequently targeted him.
On 12 October, Trump described El-Sayed as Mohammed and a radical jihadist.
El-Sayed responded by saying that hatred, fear and bigotry could not stop the movement to remove money from politics, increase household income and secure Medicare for All.
On 5 August, El-Sayed defeated Haley Stevens for the Democratic nomination by less than one percentage point.
His campaign has prioritised affordability, corruption and Medicare for All.
A polling advantage of three points was reported on 26 October.
Bronin is the Democratic candidate in Connecticut’s first congressional district.
He studied history and philosophy at Yale University before being selected as Connecticut’s 2001 Rhodes Scholar.
At Balliol College, he initially intended to pursue a DPhil in Philosophy but completed an MSc in Economic and Social History in 2003.
A contemporary described Bronin as friendly and always willing to talk.
Bronin shared accommodation with Moore during their first year at Rewley House, and the two remained close after Oxford.
Bronin met his wife, Sara Bronin, a Texas and Magdalen Rhodes Scholar from 2001, while at Oxford.
Sara completed an MSc in Economic and Social History and served as secretary of the 2001 Rhodes class.
She coordinated class gatherings and contributed family and career updates to the Rhodes class letters.
After Oxford, Bronin attended Yale Law School and served in Afghanistan as a commissioned intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve.
In the 2024 election, the Democratic incumbent he defeated in the primary, John B.
Larson, won the district by 28.3 points.
Bronin’s campaign identifies three principal priorities: reducing household costs, abolishing ICE and fixing immigration, and protecting Medicare while promoting universal health care.
The 2026 contest is his first election bid for a federal position.
Seth Bodnar is an independent candidate for the United States Senate in Montana.
He served as president of the University of Montana from 2018 until January 2026.
Before attending West Point, Bodnar was selected as Pennsylvania’s 2001 Rhodes Scholar and completed his Oxford studies at Hertford College.
He had graduated at the top of his West Point class and played for the academy’s baseball team.
Hertford College Boat Club records place Bodnar in a men’s second or third boat in 2003.
The American Oxonian reported that Bodnar travelled through Russia during a vacation in his first Oxford year, although the purpose of the journey could not be established.
Bodnar met his wife, Chelsea Bodnar, a 2000 Montana scholar at Magdalen, while studying at Oxford.
She received an MSc in Economics and Social History and an MSc in Comparative Social Policy in 2003–04.
Bodnar was deployed to Iraq as an infantry officer from 2003 to 2004 and served in the 101st Airborne Division as a Green Beret.
After leaving military service, he taught at West Point and then became president of the University of Montana.
Budget restrictions during his tenure required the removal of 50 full-time faculty posts, with the languages department affected most heavily.
The 2024 academic year nevertheless recorded the university’s largest year-on-year enrolment increase, at 5.6%.
Bodnar’s independent campaign has attracted attention in a traditionally Republican state.
Former Transportation Secretary and 2005 Rhodes Scholar Pete Buttigieg endorsed him rather than the Democratic candidate.
Polling placed Republican nominee Kurt Alme 16 points ahead of Bodnar, while Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead had 21% of the vote.
Bodnar has campaigned on ending what he describes as the costly and unauthorised war in Iran, controlling living costs, and removing corruption and corporate PAC money from United States politics.
Himes represents Connecticut’s fourth congressional district.
A former Goldman Sachs banker, he entered Congress after the 2008 election and became the first Democrat to represent the district since 1969.
Born in Peru, Himes studied Latin American Studies at Oxford after graduating from Harvard in 1988.
He initially planned to read PPE but changed course after concluding that it closely resembled his Harvard degree.
In a 2021 Teddy Hall podcast, Himes described Oxford as a profound culture shock and a daunting undertaking.
He also described the college as welcoming because of its sporting traditions.
Himes had rowed lightweight crew at Harvard before taking up rowing at Teddy Hall, where he was elected Boat Club captain.
He also played college rugby.
Following his election as captain, rugby players stripped him naked within seconds, wrapped him in the college flag, marched him along Broad Street and threw him into the college well.
Himes has continued to attend Teddy Hall alumni events.
Himes graduated from Oxford in 1990 and entered investment banking.
He later linked the industry to a lack of creative thinking and partly to the perspective provided by the 9/11 attacks.
Himes is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee and was among the final House members to leave the chamber as rioters entered the Capitol on 6 January.
He won re-election in 2024 by 23.8 points.
Booker, Kim and Buttigieg are also former Rhodes Scholars active in American politics, although none is contesting the 2026 elections.
Booker and Kim represent New Jersey in the Senate.
Booker came to Oxford in 1992 after graduating from Stanford and attended The Queen’s College.
The college confirmed that he studied Modern History, although accounts of his subject have differed.
Its records show that he earned a Full Blue for basketball in 1993, the same year Oxford lost the Varsity Match 64–86.
Booker contested the 2020 presidential election and remains discussed as a potential candidate in 2028.
Kim attended Magdalen College after graduating from the University of Chicago in 2005.
He completed a DPhil and MPhil in International Relations, with theses examining transnational advocacy networks and state responses to conflict-related crises and humanitarian intervention.
Kim met Kammy Lai while at Oxford.
A former Rhodes Scholar who remains close to Kim said he had already appeared destined for a political career.
Kim left Oxford in 2010, served in Afghanistan and became a national security adviser under Barack Obama.
He entered the House of Representatives in 2018 and won the Senate seat vacated by Bob Menendez in 2024.
Buttigieg attended Pembroke College as Indiana’s 2005 Rhodes Scholar after graduating from Harvard.
He read for a BA in PPE and became friendly with Kim during that period.
Buttigieg also helped establish the Democratic Renaissance Project, a weekly Oxford gathering for progressive Americans.
He rowed in Pembroke’s Novice VIII at the 2005 Christ Church Regatta.
After Oxford, he became mayor of South Bend in 2011 and took seven months’ leave in 2014 to serve in Afghanistan.
He contested the presidential elections of 2016 and 2020 and has also been mentioned in relation to 2028.
The friendships and experiences formed during their Oxford years continued to shape the public lives of these former scholars.
The 2001 Rhodes cohort, which enrolled less than a month after the September 11 attacks, included three people who later entered public service.
Himes was already at Oxford when the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989.
Bronin also recalled sitting with Moore on the Bodleian Library steps at 1am and discussing subjects ranging from the attacks in the United States to criminal justice reform.