Alabama leads ‘The Hill’ 50 beautiful people list

The Hill released its 50 most beautiful people list, detailing the most attractive men and women plying their trade around the halls of Congress. There have been times when South Carolina was adequately represented, like when U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett made it. But this year, the Palmetto State was shut out. The South was decently represented, though, with not one, but three staffers from Alabama slotted into the Top 10. That includes the lady at No. 1, brother.

1. Alexis Latifi

Age: 24
Hometown: Huntsville, Ala.
Political party: Republican
Relationship status: Single

Meet Alexis Latifi: raw foodist, bikram yogi, jewelry maker.

Latifi moved to Washington from her native Alabama last fall and has enjoyed taking her unique interests to a higher level.

Seeing her flourish in her new city, her friends and family back home joke, “Hey, you’re not so weird anymore,” says Latifi, a staff assistant for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

Led two years ago by the desire to eat healthier, Latifi joined the raw food movement, meaning her diet consists solely of raw plant foods. She now happily tours the city’s Whole Foods Markets, admiring the produce and shopping for recipes like raw spaghetti and raw carrot cake.

“Going to Whole Foods is like clothes shopping for me,” she said. “I’ll go to Whole Foods just to put myself in a good mood.”
The one thing she hasn’t quite figured out about being a raw foodist is how to be a good date.

“Poor boys,” she says, laughing. “I’ll get in the car, and they’re like, ‘Um, I looked for a vegetarian restaurant.’

“But I do like going places and trying the salads,” she adds earnestly.

When not dehydrating mangos, Latifi is likely striking one of 26 poses in a 105-degree room as part of her bikram yoga regimen. She attends class at a Dupont Circle studio at least three times a week.

“I’m addicted now,” she said. “I don’t go to things because I have to go to yoga.”

Latifi also brings her jewelry-making kit with her almost everywhere she goes. She made the necklace she’s wearing in her 50 Most Beautiful People photo, and she’ll throw together a piece of jewelry to match a specific outfit right before walking out the door. That’s how she likes to set herself apart.

“I have to have something that looks a little bit different than anybody else and that you haven’t seen in the store,” Latifi said.

5. Ben Dunham

Age: 31
Hometown: Huntsville, Ala.
Political party: Democratic
Relationship status: In a relationship

Ben Dunham is happy that his life is finally back to normal. Sort of.

In October 2009, the 31-year-old environmental adviser to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) met a certain young actress who was visiting Capitol Hill. And the rest, as they say, is national tabloid news.

The actress, “Mad Men” star January Jones, was in town lobbying for environmental causes when she and Dunham hit it off. Overnight, it seemed, they were spotted all over town, and Dunham’s name landed on every gossip site in the country. It didn’t hurt that his girlfriend’s T.V. show was the most talked-about drama on the small screen.

The pair dated for about four months, and true to his roots, the Huntsville, Ala., native is a Southern gentleman about the relationship, declining to discuss Jones with the media.

“I got a lot of weird e-mails, though,” he admits, “and the whole experience convinced me that I never want to be famous, whether as a politician or a celebrity or anything.”

With his soft, barely-there drawl and his honest expression, Dunham seems like an unlikely celeb. The eldest child of two teenage parents, Dunham was raised primarily by his mother, Susan Parlamento, and grandparents Vernon and Peggy Dunham.

Dunham walked onto the University of Mississippi’s football team and went on to earn a law degree at the University of North Carolina. His interest in environmental law is personal — his grandfather died in 2009 of lymphoma after a lifetime spent working on construction sites.

On a lighter note, asked about his dating history, Dunham says it goes pretty far back.

“My first girlfriend was in preschool, a German girl named Schotzy,” he says. “I’ve always loved women.”

Dunham flashes a perfect smile, lighting up his blue eyes. That sounds like good news for women, too.

6. Nichelle Williams

Age: 30
Hometown: Mobile, Ala.
Political party: Democratic
Relationship status: Boyfriend

Nichelle Williams was destined for beauty.

Her mother, a “Star Trek” fan, named her after Nichelle Nichols, the stunning actress who played Lt. Uhura aboard the Starship Enterprise.

Williams is as beautiful as her namesake but leads a more down-to-earth life as legislative counsel to Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.).

She has been in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend for three years (he’s still in Alabama), and she considers herself a homebody.

“I don’t have too much of a social life,” she admits. “I do a lot of reading. If I’m not at work, I’m at home.”

She likes to chat on the phone with friends and her close-knit family. Growing up, she bonded with her mom in a house full of four brothers.

“I was very much a tomboy, trying to keep up with my brothers,” who were all involved in sports such as football, tennis and cross-country, she says.

Williams earned a master’s in public health at Emory University and a law degree at the University of Alabama.

Before taking a job with Davis a year and a half ago, she worked at Alabama Appleseed, a social justice advocacy group.

In that job, she says, she saw firsthand the barriers that make it tough for poor people and minorities to get decent healthcare. Williams says the healthcare bill passed by Congress this year is a good first step but far from perfect.

She hopes to switch to healthcare policy but wonders how much longer she can stick it out in Washington. Williams misses home sweet home.

“I think all the talent leaves Alabama.” she says. “It’s my home.”