Florence Pendleton

Florence Howard Pendleton (January 28, 1926 – September 10, 2020)[1] was an American political activist who served as shadow senator from the District of Columbia. As the first African-American female elected to the U.S. Senate (unseated) in American history, her main goal was to promote the efforts of the District of Columbia to gain full voting rights, alongside her counterpart in Seat 2. She was inaugurated as the first ever United States Senator from the District of Columbia on January 3, 1991.[2] The District of Columbia, U.S. States Senator position has been commonly called, "shadow senator" but the voting ballot and legislation designated "United States Senator."[3]

Florence Pendleton
Pendleton in 1993
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	Florence Howard January 28, 1926 Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Died	September 10, 2020 (aged 94) Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Howard University (BS, MS) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

She was known as “The Education Senator” because of her legacy as a life-long educator, administrator of DC Public Schools, and founder of the nonprofit “STAND”, The Society for Teaching Americans about New Columbia and DC Statehood.

She defended her seat in 2000, cruising to victory in the general election over Janet Helms, beating her 84%–14%.[4]

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.

Background

Pendleton graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science and she was a doctoral student at Virginia Tech.[5]

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.[6]

1990 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election[7]

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 Pendleton	78,576	76.83
	Democratic	Stephen Sellows	20,512	20.06
		write-in	3,180	3.11

1994 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election[8]

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[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Donald 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[10]
• November 8, 1994 — reelected shadow senator[10]
• November 7, 2000 — reelected shadow senator[10]
• 2006 — filed to run for reelection but was knocked off the primary ballot when her opponent Phil Pannell challenged the signatures on her petition[11]

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. https://www.dcboe.org/Elections/Elected-Officials-(Current-Past)
4. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132429
5. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=61288
6. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132437
7. "Certified Results" (PDF). District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 23, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
8. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132430
9. "Certified Results" (PDF). District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
10. 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.
11. Montgomery, Lori; Silverman, Elissa (2006-08-03). "Pro-Slots Group Is Sailing On". The Washington Post. p. DZ02. Retrieved 2008-07-18.