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Virgina Sen. Tim Kaine Takes Spelling Championship, Journalists Sweep Team

But the team of nine journalists correctly spelled more words than the lawmakers and although they didnt get to take home a prize, they were able to take home the knowledge their team won.

The night was far from the electric intensity of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The event opened with satirist Mark Russell poking fun at both Republicans and Democrats.

Rebecca Sinderbrand, Politicos deputy White House editor, was the runner up, missing the words oppugn and ochlocracy.

Paige Kimble, executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, was one of the judges Wednesday and is no stranger to serious and intense spelling competitions. Kimble won the 1981 national spelling competition on the word sarcophagus.

And while the NPC centennial bee had few high-intensity moments, unlike its counterpart for child spellers, Kimble said before the bee began she had high hopes for an an impressive display of orthographic skill from the great journalists and politicians of our day.

Kimble said part of what makes events like the journalists versus lawmakers bee interesting isnt just the people participating, but the fact spelling bees are familiar.

We love spelling bees. We grew up participating in spelling bees, Kimble said. This is a way to celebrate our language and to play with our language. No matter our age, we can always challenge ourselves with words and relate to the spelling bee experience.

Journalists and lawmakers were given one free pass to make a mistake. On the second misspelled word, judges Kimble and Georgetown University linguistics Professor Heidi Hamilton rang a bell to signal that the contestant spelled out.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the only woman lawmaker to compete, held her own for multiple rounds until tripping up on octogenarian and irreconcilable.

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Virgina Sen. Tim Kaine Takes Spelling Championship, Journalists Sweep Team