‘Nonpareil’ was the winning word for Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who took the title of Best Speller in the United States at the National Press Club’s centennial spelling bee Wednesday.
The bee, which pitted lawmakers against journalists, was a rematch of the event 100 years ago. The trophy also went to a lawmaker, Frank B. Willis (R-Ohio), in 1913.
“I’m just glad there won’t be another contest of this kind for 100 years. I feel like I can safely retire 1 and 0,” Kaine told Red Alert Politics. “I’ve never been in a spelling bee before and I never intend to be in another one.”
The Virginia senator was feeling the pressure only a few rounds in.
“If every spelling bee had an open bar, my elementary school years would have been much more pleasant,” Kaine said, before correctly spelling asymmetrical.
While Kaine hoisted the trophy, the journalist team, which included CBS News’ Major Garrett and Fox News’ Ed Henry, actually had the most points, with 38 to the lawmakers’ 36. Rebecca Sinderbrand, deputy White House editor at POLITICO, was Kaine’s final opponent at the end.
The first word was of course ‘potato,’ a reference to former Vice President Dan Quayle’s infamous 1992 spelling gaffe. Luckily, Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) spelled it correctly. Cartwright turned out to be one of Congress’ better spellers, breezing through words such as “mellifluous,” “kleptomaniac” and “arthroscopy.”
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) also proved his spelling prowess, but fumbled his words in a moment of distraction. “I was busy looking at her gifs,” Deutch told the audience, a reference to BuzzFeed’s Kate Nocera, an opponent on the scribe side.
And while there was no prize for worst speller, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the sole Republican on the political team, deserves an honorable mention. After starting to spell ‘shenanigans’ with a ‘c,’ Flake defended himself by claiming that his Mormon faith would prevent him from knowing what one is.
Flake also blamed his iPhone for misspelling a word he had just correctly spelled at the podium in a text message to his wife.
