While millions of Americans closely followed congressional midterm results, two Swarthmore alumni emerged victorious in state elections Tuesday: Phil Weiser ’90 eked out a win in the race for Colorado attorney general, while Josh Green ’92 rode a comfortable margin to the position of lieutenant governor of Hawaii.

A vacant seat for attorney general translated to a close and expensive race between Weiser, a Democrat, and Republican George Brauchler. It was the second competitive contest for Weiser, who earned his party’s nomination in June by less than one percentage point.

“There’s an expression in the Jewish tradition, which is, ‘The whole world is a narrow bridge. The important thing is not to be afraid,’” Weiser said in a postelection interview with Colorado’s 9NEWS. “I wasn’t afraid. I knew I was walking across a narrow bridge. This is hard, the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Weiser, a political science honors major at Swarthmore, was previously the dean of the University of Colorado Law School and worked as a policy adviser on technology issues under the Obama administration.

Farther west, Green joined the ticket of incumbent Democratic Gov. David Ige, and the pair captured more than 60 percent of the vote in Hawaii. Green assumes the role of lieutenant governor-elect after serving in Hawaii’s state Senate for 10 years, with four of those spent as the body’s majority floor leader. From 2004 to 2008, Green, a biological anthropology special major at Swarthmore, was a member of Hawaii’s House of Representatives. During his legislative career, the Swarthmore grad has also split time between politics and his role as an ER doctor on the state’s Big Island.

Know of any other Swarthmore alumni who won elections Tuesday? Please contact news@swarthmore.edu.