Tyler Vandenberg, BA/School of International Service ‘16, has launched his congressional campaign for the 2026 midterms to represent California’s 3rd District.
He shares the ballot with the current Republican congressman Kevin Kiley, Democrat Richard Pan and Democrat Heidi Hall. Pan has formerly served as a representative in the California State Senate and Assembly, for the 6th and 9th Districts, respectively, and Hall is a first-time candidate.
Vandenberg is a former Marine Corps officer, a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and a two-time Jeopardy champion, but ultimately holds his roots at American University.
His experience as an SIS student was his introduction to the policy and government, solidifying his interest in public policy. The range of expertise at the University connected him to a multitude of valuable professional experiences.
“If you wanted to know what it was like to intern on the Hill, if you wanted to know what it was like to work at the State Department, there was always somebody to turn to and talk to,” Vandenberg said in an interview with The Eagle.
Because of this access, 3 members of his current congressional campaign team are American graduates, including Tyler himself, his campaign manager, and their fundraising consultant.
Unintentionally, the graduates found each other and decided to collaborate on Vandenberg’s campaign. His campaign manager is Seamus Love, JD/Washington College of Law ‘24 and MA/SIS ‘25.
“We had no idea each other existed,” Love said. “Just within a 10-year span, we all went to the same school at the same time.”
With an education from AU, background in speech writing and experience working on local campaigns, Love has founded his own political advisory company, Shell Street Consulting.
Like Vandenberg, Love arrived at the University to find a community of peers who were committed to cultivating change, with faculty invested in helping advance students’ opportunities within the city.
Love said that American University students take an active position in their community.
“They were aware of what was going on in the world ... and they wanted to do something positive about it,” Love said.
While at AU, Love connected with professors who helped him find internships and fellowships. Those experiences led him to excel in his current work with Vandenberg’s campaign.
This campaign is unique — aside from the network of American alumni on the campaign, Vandenberg is just 30 years old, and Love is 29.
Vandenberg said his perspective is different from many of the other Democratic leaders in the United States House of Representatives, and instead reflects what much of the younger wing of the Democratic Party believes.
“He’s young enough to understand the troubles that our generation has gone through,” Love said, citing examples such as gun violence and housing affordability.
Vandenberg prides himself on his communication with the constituents in his district. The knowledge he acquired while abroad while at the University and in the Marines, he said, may help bridge the gap between young voters and their representatives. Vandenberg emphasized the need for a fresh perspective in this country.
“We don’t know if what we’re trying is going to work, but what we’ve been doing clearly isn’t working,” he said.
This thirst for change mirrors the energy that Vandenberg and Love said they experienced at American University. From internships and networks to everyday connections, they said the University is fundamentally different from other schools in its ambition and objectives.
“What sits with me now [is] this idea that there was a school entirely for the kinds of kids who wanted so badly to make a difference, who wanted so badly to be a part of something big and good and to change the world,” Vandenberg said. “I realized later that that’s not everywhere.”
This article was edited by Samantha Skolnick, Abigail Hatting and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Avery Grossman, Ariana Kavoossi, Audrey Smith, Ava Stuzin.
