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50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill 2008 - 40 More |
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 Coty Wamp
Age: 19
Hometown: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Political party: Republican
Dating status: Single
It seems that when Coty Wamp, daughter of Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), was 11, an alien invaded her body.
Well, not really. But that is what it felt like to Rep. Wamp, who couldn't understand why his lovely daughter was starting to mouth off. "I told her I'd take away her privacy and take the door off her room" if she continued to behave in such a way, the congressman recalled.
Sure enough, Wamp took the door off. But when he returned home, it was back on. Coty had put the door back on its hinges herself. At 12 or 13, Wamp took the door off again - this time for three weeks.
It's safe to say things have improved in the Wamp household. Five years ago, Wamp took his daughter on a congressional delegation trip to Africa.
"We went from being father and daughter to best friends in 11 days," he said. "It was just me and her, and it was so special. It was the greatest 11 days of our relationship. We still talk about it."
A rising sophomore at the University of Tennessee, Coty studies political science and hopes one day to attend law school. This summer she interned in the office of Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), where her specialty was giving Capitol tours. She finished off the summer with a trip to Rome with her brother.
As for dating, Rep. Wamp says his daughter has had many suitors, but no one has gotten close enough to go through him yet. "She has dated many boys through the years," he said. "I think she's got a little of my mother in her. So she's going to be hard to please."
-By Betsy Rothstein
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 Crystal Chiu
Age: 24
Hometown: Houston
Political party: Democrat
Dating status: Single
If the good people at CBS had any sense, Crystal Chiu might not be in Washington at all, but running around the world with her brother, overcoming one obstacle after another.
The two sent in a video hoping to get cast in the reality TV show "Amazing Race." Pretty, clever and energetic, Chiu seems like a natural for TV. But she thinks that she and her brother were undone by their limited videography skills.
"We were just sitting on the couch poking fun at one another," she says. "We never heard back."
It was a lesson in the importance of communications that Chiu probably didn't need. The subject was her major in college, and she works in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) press shop.
"There's still a lot of people who are very confused about what you can do after graduation," she jokes.
"But communications is everything. ... It's all in the message and how you present it. It's actually an art."
Hustle and wits are keys to winning the Amazing Race. And Chiu's found that they help in Washington too.
At the start, she felt overwhelmed. "It was like jumping in cold water," she says. "I just kept telling myself, 'These people hired you for a reason.'"
Now it seems like a natural fit. "I like the frenzy, the hectic schedule, people working together."
In what free time she has, Chiu likes to run on the Mall or go dancing. She volunteers at the humane shelter.
"I love dogs. I basically just go there to play with dogs," she says.
- By Jim Snyder
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 David Ward
Age: 25
Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.
Dating status: In a relationship
The fact that David Ward is even eligible for the Top 50 list is a result of complete chance.
The handsome press secretary for Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) with the swoon-worthy blue eyes first came to the Hill with a friend who was seeking an internship, but had no real intention of pursuing his own.
Since he was there, Ward said he just "dropped off" some resumes. Shortly after, he was hired as an intern for Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).
Three years later, after a stint in Rep. Jeb Hensarling's (R-Texas) office, Ward has landed where he "ultimately wanted to end up," which is working for fellow Wake Forest University graduate Burr.
"I love the Senate — it's great over here," he said, being sure to mention he meant no disrespect for his friends in the lower chamber.
When not working for the people of North Carolina, Ward travels back to the state he represents to surf and fish. But this might not be often. Ward also reminds us that "the people's work never sleeps."
- By Jackie Kucinich
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 Elizabeth McWhorter
Age: 27
Hometown: Huntington, W.Va.
Political party: Republican
Dating status: Single
Elizabeth McWhorter knows how to give a tour of the Capitol.
As a student of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, the staffer for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) can probably tell tourists more than they would ever want to know about the unique building.
Giving tours of the Capitol was one of the reasons McWhorter decided to move to D.C. full time after an internship with Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and stints with a couple of architecture firms.
"I loved giving the Capitol tours so much as an intern," she said.
But architecture isn't all that's keeping McWhorter busy these days.
Once a week she attends classes at the Naval War College, where she's learning about national security policy, an area she says she'd like to focus on in the future.
"It's nice to use my brain, you know, read," she said.
McWhorter also stays active, playing soccer and softball several times a week. She played water polo in college.
— By Sam Youngman
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 Elizabeth Murray
Age: 23
Hometown: Mountain Brook, Ala.
Political party: Republican
Dating status: Single
What better to prepare a young staffer for the shark-infested waters of Washington than, well, shark-infested waters?
Elizabeth Murray says the transition from working as a sailing and diving instructor in the British Virgin Islands to Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) office was pretty smooth, but she readily admits, "It was a pretty big change."
Murray made a stop in between the two gigs though, working for a while in the newsroom at Fox News.
Working in Shelby's office has given her a view from the other side, she said, and she one day hopes to combine the two, working in media relations.
"It was a kind of a natural transition, I feel, between the two," Murray said.
Murray says only that she's "amused" when people say she looks like the celebrity Nicole Richie.
Her soft Southern accent and friendly smile would be a welcome asset in any office, but Murray says she's very happy to be on the team of her home-state senator.
- By Sam Youngman
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 Erica Price
Age: 25
Hometown: Beavercreek, Ohio
Political party: Democrat
Dating status: Single
Erica Price is embarrassed.
The self-deprecating fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee didn't tell her colleagues that she was being considered for the 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill.
"I'm so not even the prettiest girl in the office," she said. "Plus, my mom will think it's funny."
But finding the humor in things is nothing new for the 25-year-old Ohio native. Though she raises thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates in the Midwest, she knows not to take herself too seriously. Price, who has blond hair and blue eyes, recalled the time she performed in a ribbon dance, a Chinese tradition.
"I'm 5 feet, 10 inches without heels, and it was just 5-feet-tall Asian girls and me," said Price. "I definitely stuck out."
She volunteered that she's clumsy, often stumbling on stairs in her office to the delight of her co-workers.
"I think my parents hoped that those years of ballet classes would remedy that," she said. "No dice."
Her modesty belies her competitive nature. Despite working grueling hours, she gets up early on weekdays to swim or bike. She's training as a triathlete and is part of a 19-member crew that helped a 4-person cycling team win the coast-to-coast Race Across America.
Price said she wasn't sure it would be a good thing to become one of this year's Hill beauties, knowing the guff she stands to get from her friends.
"On the other hand, why not?" she said. "But maybe if I'm rejected, we'll form a club for those who didn't make it."
Sorry, Erica.
- By Walter Alarkon
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 Eric Halstrom
Age: 23
Hometown: Danville, Calif.
Political party: Democrat
Dating status: Single
Eric Halstrom likes a non-date date.
His best date in memory was a pre-graduate party in college. "It was the most fun and best overall because it didn't feel like a date," he says. His worst date was that same year, when two friends and their girlfriends went out one night and set him up with a female friend. "It was probably the most awkward, intimidating date," he says. "I was just kind of irritated by it."
An ideal scenario for him is "staying in, cooking dinner and just relaxing."
Halstrom says he's naturally somewhat of an introvert. He describes himself as initially shy, but insists people are surprised by how talkative he is after he has known someone for a while.
A staff assistant in the office of Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), he says he's not certain what he wants to do with his life, but sees law school in his future. He has interned for Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.).
When he's not at work, Halstrom can be found swimming, playing softball or joining friends for a barbecue. Though he attended college at Sonoma State University in California's wine country, he prefers beer to wine.
But more than drinking, his favorite pastime is skiing. He began skiing when he was 4 years old. Travel spots he most enjoys are Kauai, Hawaii, and Lake Tahoe, in both Nevada and California.
"Both are heavenly," he says.
— Betsy Rothstein
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 Garrette Silverman
Age: 27
Hometown: Honolulu
Political party: Republican
Dating status: Has her eye on someone
Garrette Silverman, spokeswoman for Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), has 50 Most Beautiful pedigree. Her mom is a former actress who moved to Hawaii to play beach bunnies and go-go dancers in "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum P.I."
With aquamarine eyes and bright blond streaks, Silverman could have followed in her mom's footsteps. Instead, she went to work at the Office of Management and Budget - a few pasty budget analysts still blinking at the glittering memory.
Her quirky humor puts you at ease.
"I'm a sleepy hamster," she says before an interview, dropping a nickname from her college days at George Washington University.
Silverman flirted with a career in broadcasting but has politics in her blood. She comes from "a staunch Republican family" and remembers herself as the only student who sported Dole-Kemp buttons on her backpack in liberal Hawaii.
She went to Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) high school but the relationship ends there. When she gets e-mails from Punahou High School alumni selling Obama gear she responds with messages touting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president.
Silverman loves working for Voinovich but finds more to life than politics.
"I like getting away and not have my social life focus on the Hill," she said.
An avid cook, she likes to throw dinner parties at her Glover Park home.
Her specialty: grilled Teriyaki Spam over rice and seaweed. (The canned meat is so popular in Hawaii that Burger King and McDonalds put it on their menus.)
Silverman finds dating difficult in D.C. because so many men are more interested in keeping their schedules than getting serious. She's learned to prefer spending quality time alone or with friends than "in relationships that aren't going anywhere."
But that's not to say romance is impossible. She says she has her eye on someone special.
-By Alexander Bolton
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 Jenny Harp
Age: 23
Hometown: Marietta, Ga.
Political party: Democrat
Dating status: "Taken"
Mornings at Jenny Harp's house can be an ordeal. If you want to shower, wake up early.
Harp shares a house in Columbia Heights with six other girls, known to them as "the Mantionette."
"We found each other on Craig's List," she said.
"Showers are complicated."
All of the girls are former sorority girls from different parts of the country, Harp said, and she can relate to the different regions.
Harp was born in California, raised in Georgia and went to school in Michigan.
"I'm kind of known as a mutt," she said.
For now, Harp is happy to working for Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), but she might not be around the Hill for long.
Harp said she would like to graduate to the level of legislative assistant before she leaves town, but she has her sights on law school.
The die-hard Michigan Wolverines fan said ideally she would like to go to Stanford law school, and then make a full-time go of it in California, where she said the weather is more to her liking.
- By Sam Youngman
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 Jill Davidsaver
Age: 28
Hometown: Winnemucca, Nev.
Political party: Democrat
Dating status: In a relationship
Growing up, Jill Davidsaver wanted to be a veterinarian and for a stint she did the whole vegetarian thing. But she never thought her life would revolve around cows.
"My livelihood and well-being seem to depend on a cow all of a sudden," said Davidsaver, who is one of the newest lobbyists for the National Cattleman's Beef Association. She took the position after passing up a job at the International Dairy Foods Association.
Looking back, it begins to make sense.
After growing up in a small Nevada cow-town surrounded by ranchers, Davidsaver moved to Bozeman, Mont., partly for college, partly to chase a cowboy with whom she was smitten. She eventually returned to her beef-eating ways, relishing the mouthwatering dishes her father cooked for her and her twin brother.
"Beef is what's for dinner," she said, bringing the carnivorous slogan to life. "I respect everyone's individual choice but you can't deny that the cows in the U.S. are happy."
But it's not the beef that keeps Davidsaver (a last name that originally came from the German, Davidshoffer) looking beautiful. It's her mother's Greek heritage. Well, that, and she lathers herself in olive oil everyday. "Only kidding," she said.
Her dark curly locks fall over her grandmother's faux pearl clip-on earrings. She has Mediterranean blue eyes that catch their reflection in the window.
Luckily she hasn't had too many bad dates, but she offers this sage advice: "Dating older men is just a bad idea."
Another thing she warns against is credit card debt.
She managed to ring up debt due to a weakness for shopping that she now has learned to control. If she can finish paying off that debt, she says, she will consider it one of her greatest achievements.
- By Jordy Yager
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