By: Miriam Edelman
Do you ever see campaign signs for U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative in Washington, D.C.? If so, do those signs confuse you? How could people run for such positions when the District of Columbia does not have voting representation in the Congress? Washington, D.C., has one non-voting delegate in the House and no representation in the Senate. Although the non-voting delegate serves in the U.S. Congress, has an office in a House office building, is a member of committees, speaks on the House Floor, and sponsor bills, D.C.’s delegate is different than from members of the shadow delegation.
The campaign signs are for the District of Columbia’s shadow delegation, which consists of two Senators and one Representative. Shadow Senators and shadow Representatives have the same length terms as their actual counterparts: six years for Senators and two years for Representative. However, unlike actual Senators and Representatives, shadow Senators and shadow Representatives do not have offices in Congressional buildings and have no voting rights in Congress. Instead, they have offices in D.C.’s city hall. In addition, unlike actual Members of Congress, D.C.’s shadow delegation members are not paid.
Washington, D.C., residents have elected two shadow Senators and shadow Representative since 1990. According to Ballotpedia, in 1796, D.C.’s first shadow Senator was first elected, and D.C.’s first shadow Representative appeared in 1956.
D.C.’s shadow delegation’s work traditionally focused on lobbying Congress for D.C. statehood. For example, in around 2021, Senator Paul Strauss discussed his work getting the following four holdout U.S. Senators to support a bill that would grant D.C. statehood: Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), and Joe Manchin (D-WV).
However, shadow delegation members have also advocated for D.C. statehood in other ways. D.C.’s shadow Senators and shadow Representative have been part of the New Columbia Statehood Commission. Shadow Senators are superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention. D.C.’s shadow delegation members also conducted outreach to international organizations, including the Unrepresented Nations and People Organization (UNPO) and the Organization of American States. D.C. is the UNPO’s only Western Hemisphere member. Senator Strauss also led the “51 stars” campaign, which involved Rosario Dawson and other celebrities discussing D.C. statehood. In 2016, D.C.’s shadow delegation conducted advocacy at Iowa’s First-In-the-Nation Caucus. In 2022, Representative Oye Owolewa helped with the introduction of HCR 86, a resolution for D.C. statehood, in West Virginia’s state legislature. West Virginia’s U.S. Senators have not supported D.C. statehood. Owolewa would like to do similar work in other states. Other states have had resolutions for and against D.C. statehood.
It is unclear what would happen to D.C.’s shadow delegation if D.C. became a state. According to dc.citycas.fm., if D.C. becomes a state, these elected officials theoretically would become D.C.’s Members of Congress.
The “shadow” term has been subject to a variety of views. The late Senator Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT) considered that term to be useful, saying “The very term 'shadow Senator’ reminds us that a large group of our fellow Americans doesn't have a real Senator.” Shadow Senator-elect Ankit Jain has used the “Shadow” term in his campaign website and signs.
Multiple members of D.C.’s shadow delegation have not liked the “shadow” term. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who became D.C.’s shadow Senator in his first electoral victory in 1990 after running for President in 1984 and 1988, said about shadow Senator language, “That's not the title. It's United States Senator from Washington.” For Jackson, the issue was about accuracy, not prestige. Shadow Senator Michael Brown remarked,
My official title, as it appears on the ballot and all official documents, is ‘United States Senator. The term ‘shadow’ is used by some to indicate that we are not officially recognized by Congress. … The term is never used by us because we see it as pejorative, but it is often used by others when describing my office.
The District of Columbia is not the only jurisdiction to have a shadow delegation. Throughout U.S. history, some areas, including Tennessee and California, have had shadow delegations that tried to advance statehood for their jurisdictions. In the past, Senate leadership gave seats on the Senate floor to at least shadow Senators from Tennessee, but not Michigan, California, and Minnesota. Usually, shadow Senators became actual Senators. Puerto Rico also currently has a shadow delegation.
In 2025, D.C.’s shadow delegation will consist of Shadow Senators Paul Strauss and Ankit Jain and Shadow Representative Dr. Adeoye I. Yakubu Owolewa. A shadow Senator since 2017, Strauss for a long time was D.C.’s sole Jewish citywide elected official. He founded and works at the Law Offices of Stauss and Associates. About to take office in 2025, Jain became the first Indian-American to be elected above Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the nation’s capital. Jain is a voting rights lawyer helping FairVote, a major proponent of ranked-choice voting. Serving as shadow Representative since 2021, Owolewa was born in Nigeria and also is a licensed pharmacist.
What will D.C.’s shadow delegation do since D.C. statehood is very unlikely with a Republican in the White House from next year until at least 2029? Strauss said that since Republicans have power now, Strauss already feels that his job is more about defense (protecting D.C. autonomy) than offensive (gaining statehood for D.C.). In addition, as Jain said about his upcoming elected office, “This position is basically our main advocate for D.C. statehood and against congressional efforts to overturn our local laws and meddle in our local affairs.”
Defending D.C. from Congressional interference is crucial, as current shadow Senator Michael Brown, whom Jain will replace, did not run for reelection in 2024 after he was criticized for not doing more regarding Congress preventing D.C.’s crime legislation from becoming law in 2023. Brown blamed the D.C. Council, even saying that it “acts like a petulant child.” Brown also said regarding D.C.’s noncitizen voting bill, “Why would you send a bill up to a conservative Republican House of Representatives that says you’re going to let a noncitizen vote?” DCNOW’s blog post, entitled “Fears-Turned Reality: Congress and the District of Columbia in 2023 So Far” discusses the bill.
Jain already is prepared for a second Trump presidency. In an interview with Slate Magazine before the recent 2024 elections, he said
I’ll just give you one example. Donald Trump keeps on saying he’s going to do a federal takeover of D.C. if he’s elected. Unfortunately, legally he can do that if he gets the bill passed through Congress. If unfortunately that does come to pass, which hopefully it does not, my job will be to organize the messaging, strategy, and campaign to stop that law from passing Congress. I’ll take the meetings with senators and their staff to get them to vote no on something like that.
He also remarked:
I’ll give you one example. I had a meeting with a staff member for [Republican Alabama] Sen. Katie Britt. There’s a bill before the Senate introduced by [Republican Utah] Sen. Mike Lee to repeal D.C.’s Home Rule Act. I was pointing out to Britt, “Hey, if this bill passes and we abolish D.C.’s local government—well, now everything bad that happens in D.C. is your fault. You’d better believe that we’re going to be saying that.” I think the politics of it is helpful.
D.C.’s shadow delegation members are effective allies in protecting D.C. autonomy and ultimately in securing statehood for the nation’s capital.
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