Shadow congressperson

The posts of shadow United States Senator and shadow United States 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 for their subnational polity to gain voting rights in Congress.

Not to be confused with Shadow Cabinet.

History

Historically, shadow congressmen were elected by organized incorporated territories prior to their admission to the Union.[1][2] From its origins in Tennessee, this approach is sometimes known as the Tennessee Plan.

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 senator 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.[3]

District of Columbia officeholders

District of Columbia 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 the District of Columbia are Paul Strauss and Mike Brown.[4]

Class 1 Class 1 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle recently contested in 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018. The next election will be in 2024.						C	Class 2 Class 2 U.S. senators belong to the electoral cycle recently contested in 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014. The next election will be in 2020.
#	Senator	Party	Dates in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Dates 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
				Re-elected in 2018.	6	116th
						117th	6	To be determined in the 2020 election.
						118th
To be determined in the 2024 election.					7	119th
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class 1							Class 2

District of Columbia 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.[5][6]

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

Delegate	Party	Term	Congress	Electoral history
Charles Moreland	Democratic	January 3, 1991– January 3, 1995	102nd 103rd	Elected 1990
John Capozzi	Democratic	January 3, 1995– January 3, 1997	104th	Elected 1994
Sabrina Sojourner	Democratic	January 3, 1997– January 3, 1999	105th	Elected 1996
Tom Bryant	Democratic	January 3, 1999– January 3, 2001	106th	Elected 1998
Ray Browne	Democratic	January 3, 2001– January 3, 2007	107th 108th 109th	Elected 2000
Mike Panetta	Democratic	January 3, 2007– January 3, 2013	110th 111th 112th	Elected 2006
Nate Bennett-Flemming	Democratic	January 3, 2013– January 3, 2015	113th	Elected 2012
Franklin Garcia	Democratic	January 3, 2015– January 3, 2021	114th 115th 116th	Elected 2014

Puerto Rico officeholders

The posts of shadow representatives and senators for Puerto Rico were created in 2017 as part of the Puerto Rico Equality Commission[7] after the New Progressive Party gained control of both the executive and legislative branch and the results of the 2017 Puerto Rican status referendum. Pro-statehood governor Ricardo Rosselló appointed five shadow representatives and two shadow senators[8] with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico.[9]

Puerto Rico shadow senators

Class						C	Class
#	Senator	Party	Dates in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Dates in office	Party	Senator	#
1	Zoraida Fonalledas	New Progressive/ Republican	August 15, 2017 – present	Appointed in 2017.	1	115th	1	Appointed in 2017.	August 15, 2017 – present	New Progressive/ Democratic	Carlos Romero Barceló	1
						116th
#	Senator	Party	Years in office	Electoral history	T		T	Electoral history	Years in office	Party	Senator	#
Class							Class

Puerto Rico shadow representatives

Year	Shadow Congressmembers
	1	2	3	4	5
2017	Luis Fortuño (PNP/R)	Charlie Rodríguez (PNP/D)	Iván Rodríguez (I)	Pedro Rosselló (PNP/D)	Félix Santoni (PNP/R)
2018					Alfonso Aguilar (PNP/R)
2019			Luis Berríos-Amadeo (I)
2020				Vacant

• Luis Fortuño (PNP/R), August 15, 2017 – present
• Charlie Rodríguez (PNP/D), August 15, 2017 – present
• Iván Rodríguez (I), August 15, 2017 – August 20, 2018
  • Luis Berríos-Amadeo (I), August 20, 2018 – present
• Pedro Rosselló (PNP/D), August 15, 2017 – July 22, 2019
  • Vacant, July 22, 2019 – present
• Félix Santoni (PNP/R), August 15, 2017 – January 6, 2018
  • Alfonso Aguilar (PNP/R), January 6, 2018 – present

See also

• District of Columbia voting rights
• District of Columbia statehood movement
• Federal voting rights in Puerto Rico
• Statehood movement in Puerto Rico

References

1. 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. "Puerto Rico's Tennessee Plan". AAF. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
3. Sheridan, Mary Beth (May 29, 2008). "D.C. Seeks to Fund Lobbying Effort for a Voting House Member". The Washington Post. p. B01. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
4. Election profiles Michael D. Brown (D), The Washington Post, 2006, retrieved, September 30, 2012.
5. "District of Columbia Election Results". New York Times. December 17, 2014.
6. "Franklin for DC". Franklin Garcia for DC. January 2, 2015.
7. "Ley por la Igualdad y Representación Congresional de los Ciudadanos Americanos de Puerto Rico" [Act for Equality and Congressional Representation of the United States Citizens of Puerto Rico]. Act No. 30-2017 of June 5, 2017 (PDF) (in Spanish).
8. Bernal, Rafael (August 15, 2017). "Puerto Rico swears in congressional delegation". The Hill. Washington, D.C.
9. "Puerto Rico governor designates four members for Equality Commission". Caribbean Business. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

External links

• A Brief History of the Shadow Senators of the United States
• Washington Post article on shadow delegation
• Official Site of District of Columbia
• Shadow Congressional Representatives contact information
• Puerto Rico Equality Commission