1998 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

1998 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

← 1996 November 13, 1998 2000 →
Turnout40.2% pp[1]
 
Nominee Tom Bryant David VanWilliams Mike Livingston
Party Democratic DC Statehood Green
Popular vote 86,546 14,637 9,479
Percentage 76.8% 13.0% 8.4%

Shadow Representative before election

Sabrina Sojourner
Democratic

Elected Shadow Representative

Tom Bryant
Democratic

On November 13, 1998, the District of Columbia held a U.S. House of Representatives election for its shadow representative. Unlike its non-voting delegate, the shadow representative is only recognized by the district and is not officially sworn or seated. One-term incumbent Sabrina Sojourner declined to run for reelection and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Tom Bryant.

Primary elections[edit]

Primary elections were held on September 15.

Democratic primary[edit]

Candidates[edit]

  • Tom Bryant, non-profit fundraiser and consultant[2]
  • Eduardo Burkhart, Chairman of the New Columbia Liberation Organization[2]

Results[edit]

District of Columbia Shadow Representative Democratic primary election, 1998[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tom Bryant, Jr. (incumbent) 45,492 73.29
Democratic Eduardo Burkhart 14,590 23.51
Write-in 1,987 3.20
Total votes 62,069 100.00

DC Statehood Party[edit]

Candidate[edit]

  • David VanWilliams, carpenter and US Army veteran[4]

Results[edit]

District of Columbia Shadow Representative DC Statehood primary election, 1998[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
DC Statehood David VanWilliams 291 84.84
Write-in 52 15.16
Total votes 343 100.00

Other primaries[edit]

Primaries were held for the Republican, and Umoja parties but no candidates were on the ballot and only write-in votes were cast.[3]

Other candidates[edit]

Green[edit]

Social justice activist and writer Mike Livingston was nominated by the DC Green Party. The DC Green Party had only been founded earlier that year and Livingston was among the first Green candidates to appear on the ballot.[5]

General election[edit]

The general election took place on November 13. This was the first election contested by the Green Party, which had been founded earlier that year. Livingston exceeded the 7,500 vote threshold needed to achieve ballot access for the Greens in future elections.[6]

Results[edit]

General election results[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tom Bryant Jr. 86,546 76.75 -6.62
DC Statehood David VanWilliams 14,637 12.98 +12.98
Green Mike Livingston 9,479 8.41 +8.41
Write-in 2,108 1.87 -0.39
Total votes 112,770 100.00

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Final and Complete Election Results". DC Board of Elections. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (SHADOW)". Washington Post. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "September 15 Primary Election FINAL AND COMPLETE ELECTION RESULTS". DC Board of Elections. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "David Van Williams for Congress". DC Watch. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  5. ^ "Mike Livingston for Shadow U.S. Representative". DC Watch. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "Ballot Status History: D.C. Statehood Green Party". Green Party of the United States. Retrieved January 26, 2021.