Shadow congressperson

The posts of shadow United States Senator and shadow U.S. Representative are held by elected or appointed government officials from subnational polities of the United States that lack Congressional vote. While these officials are not seated in either chamber of Congress, they seek that their subnational polity gains voting rights in Congress.

History

Historically, shadow congressmen were elected by organized incorporated territories prior to their admission to the Union.[1]

The first shadow senators, William Blount and William Cocke of the Southwest Territory, were elected in March 1796, before being seated as senators representing the newly formed state of Tennessee. Michigan, California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Alaska likewise elected shadow senators before statehood. The Alaska Territory also elected the first shadow U.S. Representative, Ralph Julian Rivers, in 1956. All were eventually seated in Congress as voting members, except for Alaska Shadow Sen. William A. Egan, who instead became governor.[1] The election of shadow congresspersons from the District of Columbia is authorized by a "state" constitution, which was ratified by D.C. voters in 1982 but was never approved by Congress.[2]

District of Columbia officeholders

Shadow Senators

The voters of the District of Columbia elect two shadow U.S. Senators who are known as U.S. Senators by the District of Columbia, but who are not officially sworn or seated by the U.S. Senate. Shadow U.S. Senators were first elected in 1990.

The current shadow United States Senators from Washington, D.C. are Paul Strauss and Mike Brown.[3]

List of Senators

Class 1

Class 1 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2012. The next election will be in 2018.

 C
o
n
g
r
e
s
s

Class 2

Class 2 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014. The next election will be in 2020.

# Senator Party Years in office Electoral history T
e
r
m		 T
e
r
m		 Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
1 Florence Pendleton Democratic January 3, 1991 –
January 3, 2007		 Elected in 1990. 1 102nd 1 Elected in 1990.
Retired.		 January 3, 1991 –
January 3, 1997		 Democratic
Jesse Jackson		 1
103rd
Re-elected in 1994. 2 104th
105th 2 Elected in 1996. January 3, 1997 –
present		 Democratic
Paul Strauss		 2
106th
Re-elected in 2000.
Lost re-election.		 3 107th
108th 3 Re-elected in 2002.
109th
2
Mike Brown		 Democratic January 3, 2007 –
present		 Elected in 2006. 4 110th
111th 4 Re-elected in 2008.
112th
Re-elected in 2012. 5 113th
Independent 114th 5 Re-elected in 2014.
Democratic 115th
To be determined in the 2018 election. 6 116th
117th 6 To be determined in the 2020 election.
# Senator Party Years in office Electoral history T
e
r
m		   T
e
r
m		 Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
Class 1 Class 2

Shadow Representatives

The voters of the District of Columbia elect one Shadow Representative who is recognized as equivalent to U.S. Representatives by the District of Columbia, but is not recognized by the U.S. government as an actual member of the House of Representatives. A shadow representative was first elected in 1990. The current shadow representative is Franklin Garcia.

DC's shadow U.S. Representative should not be confused with the non-voting delegate who represents the District in Congress.

List of Representatives

Franklin Garcia

Puerto Rico officeholders

The post of shadow congressmember for Puerto Rico was created in 2017 after the New Progressive Party gained control of both the executive and legislative branch. The first shadow congressmembers were appointed by pro-statehood Governor Ricardo Rosselló in that same year and sworn in a few months later[7] with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico.[8]

Shadow Senators

List of Senators

Class

C
o
n
g
r
e
s
s

Class

# Senator Party Years in office Electoral history T
e
r
m		 T
e
r
m		 Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
1 Zoraida Fonalledas New Progressive/
Republican		 August 15, 2017 –
present		 Appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate in 2017. 1 115th 1 Appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate in 2017. August 15, 2017 –
present		 New Progressive/
Democratic
Carlos Romero Barceló		 1
To be determined in the 2018 election. 2 116th
117th 2 To be determined in the 2020 election.
# Senator Party Years in office Electoral history T
e
r
m		   T
e
r
m		 Electoral history Years in office Party Senator #
Class Class

Shadow Representatives

List of Representatives

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Strauss, Paul. "A Brief History of the Shadow Senators of the United States". Paul Strauss – United States Senator for the District of Columbia. Archived from the original on February 11, 2003.
  2. ↑ Sheridan, Mary Beth (2008-05-29). "D.C. Seeks to Fund Lobbying Effort for a Voting House Member". The Washington Post. p. B01. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  3. ↑ Election profiles Michael D. Brown (D), The Washington Post, 2006, retrieved, September 30, 2012.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Patricia (February 18, 2010). "Ray Browne, fought for D.C. voting rights, dies at 71". The Washington Post.
  5. ↑ "District of Columbia Election Results". New York Times. Dec 17, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Franklin for DC". Franklin Garcia for DC. Jan 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Bernal, Rafael (15 August 2017). "Puerto Rico swears in congressional delegation".
  8. ↑ "Puerto Rico governor designates four members for Equality Commission – Caribbean Business". caribbeanbusiness.com.
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