Senate Candidates Step Out of the Shadows

While not a state, Washington, D.C., does have two shadow senators, one of whom — Democrat Paul Strauss — faces the voters Tuesday amid a crowded field looking to replace him.

Strauss, who has served since he was first elected in 1996, has used the position to advocate for a signature issue – D.C. congressional representation, which he hopes will eventually lead to D.C. statehood.

Although Strauss cannot vote on the floor of the Senate, nor in committee, many of the trappings and responsibilities of the office are carried out by him and the District’s other senator, Michael Brown. The District's House delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, cannot vote on the House floor, but can vote in committee. D.C. Shadow Senator Up For Re-election: Democrat Paul Strauss has served as a shadow senator for Washington, D.C., since 1996 and faces the voters again on Tuesday. (Photo by Cooper Allen) Strauss, originally from New York, first moved to the District in the 1980s to attend American University. Later, he also attended the university’s law school. It wasn’t long after settling in D.C. that he embraced an issue that now defines his role as a shadow senator.

“It seemed crazy that by moving to the capital of the United States that I should have less rights than the citizens of the United States,” Strauss said.

“And no one has ever been able to satisfactorily explain why that’s fair or just or appropriate in any way,” he added. Strauss will be defending his seat against three challengers this year, including Republican Nelson Rimensnyder. Rimensnyder argues that obtaining statehood for the District should begin with acquiring territorial status.

Republican Candidate Nelson Rimensnyder: Rimensnyder is one of three candidates challenging Democrat Paul Strauss as shadow senator for Washington, D.C. (Photo by Lisa Nickerson) “Congress is never going to do that,” he said, referring to proposals that call for immediate statehood. “It’s just unprecedented.”

Like Strauss, Rimensnyder views District congressional representation in personal terms. His son is an Iraq veteran who wrote his thesis at West Point on the issue of D.C. congressional representation.

He also supports the District’s school voucher program, which Strauss opposes.

Not exactly a conventional candidate, Libertarian Damien Ober’s campaign illustrates the occasionally eclectic nature of district politics. What began as an online film featuring Ober as a fictional shadow senator, evolved into a spot on the actual ballot, after the Libertarian Party approached Ober.

While embracing the goal of securing congressional voting, Ober’s platform is more focused on his nuanced vision of the shadow senator’s role. “The shadow Senate position is an advocacy position,” he said. “We want to make sure everybody in America knows there are 600,000 people without representation.”

Fighting for District statehood should be a shadow senator’s focus, says Statehood Green Party candidate Keith Ware. What's more, the District's two senate positions need to come out of the shadows.

"Half the people don't even know we have two positions," he said, adding his goal is to "start giving this position some clout."

A fourth-generation Washingtonian, Ware has aligned himself with the Green Party for three years. Besides advocating for District statehood, he says he is committed to "making Washington, D.C., as green as it can be."

Although the race is heavily contested, history suggests it may not be that competitive. In 1996, Strauss received 76 percent of the vote in a three-person field; in 2002, also a three-candidate contest, he garnered 77 percent.

“I’m confident that I’ll be re-elected,” he said. “But I certainly don’t want to make it look like we’re taking anything for granted.”

And, unlike other campaigns where ideological differences between candidates are stark and sometimes divisive, Strauss says there is consensus about the central issue facing the District’s shadow senators, even if their approaches differ.

“D.C. residents, from across party lines, want more self-control over their community, and they want a greater role in the affairs of their country,” he said. “I do a lot of the things that any other elected U.S. senator would do for their state or district, except there’s a lot of things that I don’t do — most specifically, vote.”