Nine Cornell University alumni are set to serve in the next Congress, the university's largest congressional contingent in more than half a century.
Eight will serve in the House and one in the Senate when the 120th Congress begins in January 2027, according to the Cornell Chronicle. The group includes two newly elected House members and seven returning lawmakers.
Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a 2009 Cornell graduate in chemical engineering, defeated the Republican incumbent in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. She studied in what is now Cornell's Duffield College of Engineering.
Democrat Don Leonard, who earned a doctorate in government in 2014, won in Ohio's 15th Congressional District. Bennett and Leonard join a Cornell delegation that spans both political parties.
Three returning Republican House members have Cornell degrees: Clay Fuller of Georgia, who earned a Master of Public Administration in 2006; Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, a 1988 graduate; and Beth Van Duyne of Texas, a 1995 graduate.
The returning Democratic House members are Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, who earned her law degree in 1989; Sharice Davids of Kansas, who earned her law degree in 2010; and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, who earned a master's degree in 2007.
Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a 1998 Cornell graduate, rounds out the group. She won her first six-year Senate term in 2024 after serving three terms in the House.
The historical comparison comes from Cornell history expert Corey Ryan Earle, a 2007 graduate. When the 94th Congress began in 1975, nine Cornell alumni served in the House alongside Maine Sen. Edmund Muskie, who earned a Cornell law degree in 1939. That contingent totaled 10 lawmakers.
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