United States Senate elections in the District of Columbia

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The District of Columbia is a political division coterminous with Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. [1] According to the Article One of the Constitution, only states may be represented in the United States Congress. [2] The District of Columbia is not a U.S. state and therefore has no voting representation in the United States Senate. However, it does have a non-voting delegate to represent it in the House. [3]

Contents

The majority of residents want the district to become a state and gain full voting representation in Congress. [4] To prepare for this goal, the district has elected shadow senators since 1990. The shadow senator emulates the role of representing the district in the Senate and pushes for statehood alongside the non-voting House delegate and shadow representatives. [5] The district has held 11 shadow senator elections.

The Democratic Party has immense political strength in the district; in each of the shadow senator elections, the district has overwhelmingly voted for the Democratic candidate, with no margin less than 58 percentage points.

Shadow senator elections

Key for parties
   Democratic Party – (D)
   D.C. Statehood Green Party – (STG)
   D.C. Statehood Party – (ST)
   Independent candidate – (I)
   Republican Party – (R)
   Umoja Party – (U)

Initial

U.S. shadow senator elections (Class I) in the District of Columbia in 1990
YearWinner 1Winner 2Runner-upRef.
CandidateVotes %CandidateVotes %CandidateVotes %
1990 Jesse Jackson (D)105,63346.80% Florence Pendleton (D)58,45125.89%Harry T. Alexander(I)13,9836.19% [6]

Class I

U.S. shadow senator elections in the District of Columbia from 1994 to present
YearWinnerRunner-upOther candidate [lower-alpha 1] Ref.
CandidateVotes %CandidateVotes %CandidateVotes %
1994 Florence Pendleton (D)117,51774.04% Julie Finley (R)24,10715.19%Mel Edwards(ST)15,5869.82% [7]
2000 Florence Pendleton (D)143,57888.97%Janet Helms(R)16,66610.33%——— [8]
2006 Michael Donald Brown (D)90,33684.16%Joyce Robinson-Paul(STG)15,35214.30%——— [9]
2012 Michael Donald Brown (D)206,91179.78%David Schwartzman(STG)26,61410.26%Nelson Nimensnyder(R)23,9359.23% [10]
2018 Michael Donald Brown (D)178,57382.89%Eleanor Ory(STG)33,01615.32%——— [11]

Class II

U.S. shadow senator (Class II) elections in the District of Columbia from 1996 to present
YearWinnerRunner-upOther candidate [lower-alpha 1] Ref.
CandidateVotes %CandidateVotes %CandidateVotes %
1996 Paul Strauss (D)107,21776.01%Gloria R. Corn(R)19,04413.50%George Pope(U)13,1489.32% [12]
2002 Paul Strauss (D)91,43477.32%Joyce Robinson-Paul(STG)13,96611.81%Norma M. Sasaki(R)11,2779.54% [13]
2008 Paul Strauss (D)183,51980.82%Nelson Rimensnyder(R)18,6018.19%Keith Ware(STG)16,8817.43% [14]
2014 Paul Strauss (D)116,90176.41%David Schwartzman(STG)15,71010.27%Glenda Richmond(I)10,7026.99% [15]
2020 Paul Strauss (D)251,99181.17%Eleanor Ory(STG)31,15110.03%Cornelia Weiss(R)24,1687.78% [16]

Graph

The following graph shows the margin of victory of the Democratic Party over the runner-up in the 11 shadow senator elections the District of Columbia has held, excluding the initial 1990 election that had two winners.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 For purposes of these lists, other candidates are defined as those who were in third place. Write-in totals are not represented.

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The District of Columbia is a political division coterminous with Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. According to the Article One of the Constitution, only states may be represented in the United States Congress. The District of Columbia is not a U.S. state and therefore has no voting representation.

Washington, D.C., is a political division coterminous with the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States. The enactment of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in 1973 provided for an elected mayor for the first time in nearly a century. Starting in 1974, there have been thirteen elections for mayor and six people have held the office. The Democratic Party has immense political strength in the district. In each of the mayoral elections, the district has solidly voted for the Democratic candidate, with no margin less than 14 percentage points.

References

  1. ↑ Grogg, Robert (2013). "Introduction: Where Oh Where Should the Capital Be?". White House Historical Association . Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Equal Representation of States in the Senate". Constitution Annotated . Library of Congress . Retrieved March 8, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ Ellis, Jessica (December 9, 2022). "Does Washington DC Have a Governor, Senators and Representatives?". United States Now. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  4. ↑ Davis, Aaron C. (November 8, 2016). "District Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Referendum to Make D.C. the 51st State" . The Washington Post . Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  5. ↑ "What does DC's 'Shadow Delegation' to Congress Actually Do?". WUSA9 . November 2, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ "DC Shadow Senator Race - Nov 06, 1990". OurCampaigns. September 16, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ "November 8 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 18, 1994. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  8. ↑ "November 7 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 17, 2000. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Certified Official Results Report" (PDF). District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 21, 2006. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  10. ↑ "General Election 2012 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. April 14, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  11. ↑ "General Election 2018 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 15, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  12. ↑ "November 15 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 15, 1996. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Certification Summary - Candidate". District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 21, 2002. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Certified Election Results" (PDF). District of Columbia Board of Elections. November 24, 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  15. ↑ "General Election 2014 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  16. ↑ "General Election 2020 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
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