While Barack Obama’s historic win on Tuesday night may have grabbed the biggest headlines, Georgetown alumni were also competing in this week’s elections, several seeking their first elected offices, including a presidential bid.Bob Barr (LAW ’77) was defeated in the U.S. presidential race, running as the nominee for the Libertarian Party. He was previously a Republican congressman for Georgia and a federal prosecutor who led the impeachment against former president Bill Clinton (SFS ’68).”This is just the beginning of the new Libertarian Party,” Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party nominee for president, said in a statement on his party’s Web site. “In these next four years, there will be an even greater need for a political party fully dedicated to lower taxes, smaller government and more individual freedom – a voice for liberty.”Two of the newcomers in congressional elections, Glenn Nye (SFS ’96) and Luis Fortuño (SFS ’82), emerged victorious.Nye, a Democrat, won the House seat for Virginia’s 2nd District in what was his first entry into electoral politics, narrowly defeating the incumbent Republican candidate Thelma Drake.Nye has previously served as a Foreign Service officer working in conflict zones, including Kosovo, Macedonia, Afghanistan and Iraq.According to Nye, his campaign platform focused mostly on improving the nation’s economy.”I recognized that we can’t be leaders in the world without a strong economy,” he said.The other winner, Fortuño, a member of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, was elected governor of Puerto Rico for the first time. He is currently Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner to the U.S. Congress, and won the gubernatorial race in a landslide victory this week. He was first sworn into his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2005, the first Republican Puerto Rican elected to Congress.Sharen Swartz Neuhardt (LAW ’76) was defeated in her first bid for an elected position in government. Neuhardt ran as the Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 7th District House seat – a well-entrenched position held by Republicans since 1939. She was defeated by Republican State Senator Steve Austria, who tallied approximately 57 percent of the vote.Another Georgetown graduate seeking his first electoral victory, Democrat Bill Mitchell (LAW ’82), was also defeated by a landslide in Florida’s 9th District by Republican incumbent Gus Bilirakis.Several other alumni also had a stake in this week’s elections, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill., SFS ’66, LAW ’69), who earned a third term by defeating Republican opponent Steve Sauerberg.Illinois voters also reelected Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill., LAW ’92), one of the few GOP victories in a state that was largely swept by Democrats, defeating challenger Dan Seals.U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex., SFS ’78) celebrated victory over Republican Jim Fish in Texas’s 28th District.Twenty-seven-year incumbent Frank Wolf (R-Va., LAW ’65) defeated Judy Feder, a professor of public policy and former dean of the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. This was Feder’s second bid to oust Wolf; she also lost in 2006.Nye and Neuhardt both pointed to their experiences at Georgetown and in D.C. as formative periods for their political career.”The idea of service was hammered into us during my time at Georgetown,” Nye said. “At graduation, I remember they asked us students to go out into the world and find some way to serve.” Nye said it was this idea that seemed to resonate most with his voters.Neuhardt, on the other hand, pointed to her experience working in D.C. while attending law school as the most formative time for her political career.”There is no other place for politics,” Neuhardt said. “The opportunities to work . with some of the top lawyers in the country is a phenomenal advantage.”Neuhardt clerked from her second year of law school on at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius – a firm that specializes in labor and employment law.According to Neuhardt, politically inclined students can best gain experience by starting to work on campaigns.”I think that getting involved early on with a candidate or an elected official, exposure to how to work within a party, and getting your name known and establishing credentials are big things,” Neuhardt said.Nye also urged Georgetown students to seriously consider running for an elected office.”It is difficult, but we need good people. The challenge of running for office turns many people off,” Nye said. “If you’re interested, you should evaluate what it takes – both by working on actual campaigns and through internships on the Hill. If you really want to do it, you can make it happen.”While a number of Georgetown students have considered a future in electoral politics, at least one has begun to make definitive plans.Caitlin Boland (COL ’10), the membership director for the Georgetown University College Democrats, said she is already planning on running in Montana for a state representative seat in November 2010.”I am making phone calls, putting my name out there and staying in touch with a lot of people whose help I’ll need eventually,” Boland said.”