CAPABALE IN CAPITOL: Anderson, a deputy chief of staff, and Ho, a chief counsel, have been recognized as outstanding staffers in Congress. Breton Littlehales

Kai Anderson, a Democrat, and Jim Ho, a Republican, work on opposite sides of the aisle in the nation’s Capitol, but they have things in common. A Cardinal past, for one. The admiration of their colleagues, for another. Earlier this year the two were named to a list of Congress’s best young staff members—the top “35 under 35”—by The Hill, the nonpartisan weekly newspaper that covers Congress.

Anderson, a geologist, ended up in Washington because of a deal he made with his wife, Rennie Crocker Anderson, ’93. The plan was that he would follow her as she took a clerkship after law school and then she would follow him to wherever he found a job as a professor. She landed in D.C., and Anderson began a search for an appropriate job. He found a fellowship—funded by a national geology organization eager to get PhD scientists working on the Hill—in the office of Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman.

By the time his wife’s clerkship was up, Anderson, who turns 34 in July, was hooked. “I was intrigued by the prospect of teaching not just geology, but also being able to advise students—‘How do you apply this to the real world?’” Anderson says.

In 1999, he began working for Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who is the Senate minority leader. At first Anderson focused on issues related to his background—mining, public lands, environmental protection. Now, as Reid’s deputy chief of staff, he covers everything related to Nevada. “I have had the opportunity to work on 10 or more public land bills that have changed the map in Nevada,” Anderson says.

He has come a long way from his days doing geology fieldwork. “My friends think it is hilarious that I own a suit, much less wear one every day,” Anderson says.

Ho, 32, followed a more conventional path to Washington. After earning a degree in public policy, he worked for a California state senator. He then attended the University of Chicago law school, clerked for a circuit court judge and spent two years at the Justice Department.

He expected to continue doing that sort of legal work, but he was recruited by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn. Ho’s wife, Allyson, grew up in Texas, and the couple had followed Cornyn’s career with interest.

For Ho, the appeal of his work has been less its ideological battles than the chance to study the political process. Cornyn holds a key spot on the Senate’s judiciary committee and chairs a subcommittee on immigration. As Cornyn’s chief counsel, Ho supports his boss by preparing for hearings, getting witnesses, crafting arguments. “I like the chess-game aspect of politics,” Ho says. “I enjoy seeing how an argument is crafted and predicting what the other side will say and how to counter it.”

Ho is moving in October to another place where arguments are crafted: He will clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Both men unwind by watching sports. Anderson was one of the early members of Stanford’s Sixth Man Club; he and Rennie, now a consultant and an at-home mom to three children under 5, are rabid basketball fans. Each March, when the NCAA brackets sprout, Ho and Allyson, a Duke alum, root for their teams.