1998 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

1998 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

November 13, 1998
Turnout	40.2% pp
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

Primary elections were held on September 15.

Democratic primary

Candidates

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

Results

District of Columbia Shadow Representative Democratic primary election, 1998

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

Candidate

• David VanWilliams, carpenter and US Army veteran

Results

District of Columbia Shadow Representative DC Statehood primary election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	DC Statehood	David VanWilliams	291	84.84
	Write-in		52	15.16
Total votes			343	100.00

Other primaries

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

Other candidates

Green

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.

General election

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.

Results

General election results

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