Florence Pendleton

Florence Howard Pendleton (January 28, 1926 – September 10, 2020)[1] was an American political activist who served as a shadow senator from the District of Columbia from 1991 to 2007.

Florence Pendleton
Pendleton in 1993
United States Shadow Senator
from the District of Columbia
In office
January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2007
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byMichael Brown
Personal details
Born
Florence Howard

(1926-01-28)January 28, 1926
Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
DiedSeptember 10, 2020(2020-09-10) (aged 94)
Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationHoward University (BS, MS)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Pendleton's main goal as shadow senator was to promote the efforts of the District of Columbia to gain full voting rights. She was inaugurated as the first ever shadow senator from the District of Columbia on January 3, 1991.[2] 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.

Pendleton defended her seat in 2000, cruising to victory in the general 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.

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.[4]

Election history

1990
1990 Shadow Senator election in Washington, D.C.[5][6]
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 4.50
Total votes 149,842 100.00
General election
Democratic Jesse Jackson 105,633 46.80
Democratic Florence Pendleton 58,451 25.89
independent (politician) Harry T. Alexander 13,983 6.19
Republican Milton Francis 13,538 6.00
Republican Joan Gillison 12,845 5.69
DC Statehood Green Keith M. Wilkerson 4,545 2.01
DC Statehood Green Anthony W. Peacock 4,285 1.90
independent (politician) John West 3,621 1.60
independent (politician) David L. Whitehead 3,341 1.48
Socialist Workers Sam Manuel 2,765 1.23
independent (politician) Lee Black 2,728 1.21
Total votes 215,735 100.00
Democratic win (new seat)

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.

1994
1994 U.S. Shadow Senator election in Washington, D.C.[7][8]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Florence Pendleton (incumbent) 78,576 76.83
Democratic Stephen Sellows 20,512 20.06
Write-in 3,180 3.11
Total votes 102,268 100.00
General election
Democratic Florence Pendleton (incumbent) 117,517 74.04
Republican Julie Finley 24,107 15.19
DC Statehood Green Mel Edwards 15,586 9.82
Write-in 1,511 0.95
Total votes 158,721 100.00
Democratic hold

2000
2000 U.S. Shadow Senator election in Washington, D.C.[9][10]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Florence Pendleton (incumbent) 28,500 96.48
Write-in 1,041 3.52
Total votes 29,541 100.00
General election
Democratic Florence Pendleton (incumbent) 143,578 88.97
Republican Janet Helms (withdrew) 16,666 10.33
Write-in 1,136 0.71
Total votes 161,380 100.00
Democratic hold

2006
2006 U.S. Shadow Senator Washington, D.C. Democratic Party primary election[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael Donald Brown 62,415 73.15
Democratic Philip Pannell 21,552 25.26
Write-in 1,363 1.60
Total votes 85,330 100.00

Pendleton got kicked off the Democratic primary ballot for not getting enough valid signatures to qualify for the election. She ran as a write-in candidate with little success.[12]

Political career
  • November 6, 1990 — elected shadow senator when office was created[13]
  • November 8, 1994 — reelected shadow senator[13]
  • November 7, 2000 — reelected shadow senator[13]
  • 2006 — filed to run for reelection but was knocked off the primary ballot when her opponent Phil Pannell challenged the signatures on her petition[14]

See also

References
  1. "D.C. Election News and Voters Guide: U.S. Senator Shadow Seat". The Washington Post. 2000-11-11. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  2. "Our Campaigns - DC Shadow Senator - D Primary Race - Sep 11, 1990".
  3. "Our Campaigns - DC Shadow Senator Race - Nov 07, 2000".
  4. "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Florence Pendleton".
  5. "1990 DC Shadow Senator - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  6. "1990 DC Shadow Senator". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  7. "Election Year 1994 September 13 Primary Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  8. "Election Year 1994 November 8 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  9. "Election Year 2000 September 12 Primary Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  10. "Election Year 2000 November 7 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  11. "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.
  12. Lori Montgomery; Elissa Silverman (3 August 2006). "Pro-Slots Group Is Sailing On". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  13. 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.
  14. Montgomery, Lori; Silverman, Elissa (2006-08-03). "Pro-Slots Group Is Sailing On". The Washington Post. p. DZ02. Retrieved 2008-07-18.


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