Florence Pendleton

Florence Pendleton
United States Shadow Senator from the District of Columbia
In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Michael Brown
Personal details
Born	1926 (age 89–90)
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	Howard University Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Florence H. Pendleton (born c. 1926)^[1] is a former shadow senator from the District of Columbia. As the first shadow senator of the District of Columbia, her main goal was to promote the efforts of the District to gain full voting rights, alongside her counterpart in Seat 2. She was inaugurated as the first ever shadow senator on January 3, 1991. ^[2]

She defended her seat in 2000 by cruised to victory in the primary election over Janet Helms, beating her 84%-14%. ^[3]

Her re-election bid in 2006 failed when Philip Pannell successfully challenged that she failed to have 2,000 valid signatures to get onto the ballot, having only 1,559. She ran as a write-in candidate, but only won 1,363 votes as Michael Donald Brown cruised to victory with 62,415 votes over her and Pannell's 21,552 votes to win the Democratic Primary. Her last day in office was on January 3, 2007.

Election history

1990

1990 Shadow Senator, D.C., Democratic Primary Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jesse Jackson	85,454	57.03
	Democratic	Florence Pendleton	25,349	16.92
	Democratic	Harry "Tommy" Thomas, Jr.	22,401	14.95
	Democratic	James Forman	9,899	6.61
	Democratic	Marc Humphries	6,739	4.5

In the general election, the top two vote getters were elected as Shadow senators of each seat, with Pendleton taking Seat 1 and Jackson taking Seat 2.^[4]

1990 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jesse Jackson	105,633	46.8
	Democratic	Florence Pendleton	58,451	25.89
	Independent	Harry T. Alexander	13,983	6.19
	Republican	Milton Francis	13,538	6
	Republican	Joan Gillison	12,845	5.69
	D.C. Statehood Green	Keith M. Wilkerson	4,545	2.01
	D.C. Statehood Green	Anthony W. Peacock	4,285	1.9

1994

1994 Shadow Senator, D.C., Democratic Primary Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Florence Pendelton	78,576	76.83
	Democratic	Stephen Sellows	20,512	20.06
		write-in	3,180	3.11

1994 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Florence Pendleton	117,517	74.04
	Republican	Julie Finley	24,107	15.19
	D.C. Statehood Green	Mel Edwards	15,586	9.82
		Other	1,511	0.95

2000

2000 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Florence Pendleton	143,578	84
	Republican	Janet Helms	16,666	14
		write-in	1,136	2

2006

2006 Shadow Senator, D.C., Democratic Primary Election[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael D. Brown	62,415	73
	Democratic	Philip Pannell	21,552	25
		write-in	1,363	2

Political career

• November 6, 1990 — elected shadow senator when office was created^[8]
• November 8, 1994 — reelected shadow senator^[8]
• November 7, 2000 — reelected shadow senator^[8]
• 2006 — filed to run for reelection but was knocked off the primary ballot when her opponent Phil Pannell challenged the signatures on her petition^[9]

See also

• United States congressional delegations from the District of Columbia

References

1. "D.C. Election News and Voters Guide: U.S. Senator Shadow Seat". The Washington Post. 2000-11-11. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
2. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=569210
3. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132429
4. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132437
5. "Certified Results" (PDF). District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. September 12, 2006.
6. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132430
7. "Certified Results" (PDF). District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. September 12, 2006.
8. District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. "Historical Elected Officials: US Senator". Archived from the original on 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
9. Montgomery, Lori; Silverman, Elissa (2006-08-03). "Pro-Slots Group Is Sailing On". The Washington Post. p. DZ02. Retrieved 2008-07-18.