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 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 |
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”[citation needed] 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
editPendleton 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
edit1990
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit- 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
editReferences
edit- ^ "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.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - DC Shadow Senator - D Primary Race - Sep 11, 1990".
- ^ "Our Campaigns - DC Shadow Senator Race - Nov 07, 2000".
- ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Florence Pendleton".
- ^ "1990 DC Shadow Senator - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "1990 DC Shadow Senator". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Election Year 1994 September 13 Primary Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Election Year 1994 November 8 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Election Year 2000 September 12 Primary Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "Election Year 2000 November 7 General Election". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Lori Montgomery; Elissa Silverman (3 August 2006). "Pro-Slots Group Is Sailing On". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ 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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