2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia
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The 2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia took place on November 6, 2012, to elect a shadow member to the United States Senate to represent the District of Columbia. The member was only recognized by the District of Columbia and not officially sworn or seated by the United States Senate. Incumbent Michael D. Brown was re-elected to a second term.
Primary elections
[edit]Party primaries took place on April 3, 2012. Democrat Mike Brown, the incumbent shadow senator, won his party's primary by defeating challenger Pete Ross, and D.C. Statehood Green candidate David Schwartzman won his party's primary with a write-in campaign.[1] Republican candidate Nelson Rimensnyder was unopposed in his party's primary.
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Michael D. Brown, incumbent Shadow Senator
- Pete Ross, furniture businessman and candidate for Shadow Senator in 2002[2]
Campaign
[edit]Ross' campaign was largely self-funded. He gave over $200,000 of his own money to his campaign. This was a stark contrast to incumbent Senator Brown, who loaned his campaign only $1,200 with the rest of his much smaller budget composed of small donations from city residents.[3] Brown derisively referred to Ross' warchest as "[a] felons riches"[2]
In December 2011, four months prior to the primary election, Ross was one of four people arrested for blocking traffic on Constitution Avenue during a demonstration for statehood.[4] On March 13, 2012, just a month before the primary, Ross went to court for sentencing and appeared before Judge Elizabeth Wingo. During his hearing, Ross requested to be given jail time instead of the probation usually given to people facing similar charges. Faced with an unusual situation, Wingo postponed judgement for two days. Before the second hearing on March 15, Wingo was called by Brown, who warned the judge that Ross was using his time in court and request for jail time as a political statement. Wingo informed Brown that his call was inappropriate and proceeded to hand the case off to another judge.[3]
On the 15th, Ross appeared before Judge Fredrick J. Sullivan. A government prosecutor present said he opposed giving jail time yet Ross continued to ask for jail time. Sullivan attempted to dissuade Ross from going to jail and at one point said “It’s not a pleasant place over there,” Ross was unswayed and was ultimately sentenced to one day in jail and a $50 fine.[3] Ross spent six hours in jail and was released at 10:00 pm. Though arrests of pro-statehood protesters are common in DC, Ross is the only person known to be jailed for protesting in favor of statehood.[5]
During the campaign, several major revelations of financial wrongdoing came out. It emerged that in 2007, Pete Ross had failed to remit $203,000 in payroll taxes which led to an IRS investigation. Ross hid assets from the IRS and eventually pleaded guilty to a felony tax evasion charge. As a result he spent 90 days in a halfway house. On this issue, Senator Brown said "I’m all about redemption, too, but a guy with this kind of record can’t go up to Capitol Hill"[2] Additionally, it was revealed that Ross owed $441,734 in unpaid sales tax, interest, and penalties to the DC government.[6]
Results
[edit]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Michael D. Brown | 34,342 | 68.74 | |
| Democratic | Pete Ross | 14,568 | 29.16 | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 1,046 | 2.09 | |
| Total votes | 49,956 | 100.0 | ||
General election
[edit]The general election took place on November 6, 2012.
Candidates
[edit]- Michael D. Brown (Democratic), incumbent
- David Schwartzman (D.C. Statehood Green)
- Nelson Rimensnyder (Republican)
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Michael D. Brown (Incumbent) | 206,911 | 79.78% | −4.38 | |
| DC Statehood Green | David Schwartzman | 26,614 | 10.26% | −4.04 | |
| Republican | Nelson Rimensnyder | 23,935 | 9.23% | +9.23 | |
| Write-in | 1,896 | 0.73% | -0.80 | ||
| Total votes | 259,356 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Primary Election 2012 - Certified Results". DC BOE. April 14, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ a b c DeBonis, Mike (March 20, 2012). "In race to represent D.C. as shadow senator, Pete Ross focuses on the future". Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c Austermuhle, Martin (March 15, 2012). "D.C. Shadow Senator Hopeful Gets Wish of Jail Time for Arrest at D.C. Voting Rights Protest". DCist. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Freed, Benjamin (December 16, 2011). "Four Arrested in Brief Voting Rights Protest". DCist. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Austermuhle, Martin (March 16, 2012). "Shadow Senator Candidate Spends Six Hours in D.C. Jail". DCist. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Suderman, Alan (March 28, 2012). "A Better Use, Perhaps, for Pete Ross' Money?". Washington City Paper. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ "General Election 2012 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. April 14, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "District of Columbia (D.C.)", Voting & Elections Toolkits
- "District of Columbia: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
- "League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia". (Affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
- Washington, D.C. at Ballotpedia