2006 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

On November 7, 2006, 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. Incumbent Shadow Representative Ray Browne did not run for reelection and fellow Democrat Mike Panetta was elected in his place.

2006 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia

← 2004 November 7, 2006 2008 →
Turnout	62.5% 29.0 pp[1]
Nominee Mike Panetta Keith Ware Nelson Rimensnyder Party Democratic DC Statehood Green Republican Popular vote 82,759 13,511 9,700 Percentage 77.5% 12.7% 9.1%
Results by ward:   Panetta—60–70%   Panetta—70–80%   Panetta—80–90%
Shadow Representative before election Ray Browne Democratic Elected Shadow Representative Mike Panetta Democratic

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on September 12, 2006. Forster withdrew from the race at the beginning of September but his name remained on the ballot and he still received thousands of votes.^[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• James S. Bubar, attorney and delegate for John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention^[3]
• John J. Forster (withdrew)^[4]
• Mike Panetta, Director of Public Affairs at Grassroots Enterprise^[5]

Results

Democratic primary results by ward:

  Panetta—50–60%

  Panetta—40–50%

  Forster—40–50%

District of Columbia Shadow Representative Democratic primary election, 2006^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Panetta	36,373	47.00
	Democratic	John J. Forster (withdrawn)	25,554	33.02
	Democratic	James S. Bubar	13,493	17.43
	Write-in		1,973	2.55
Total votes			77,393	100.0
	n/a	Overvotes	18
	n/a	Undervotes	29,314

Statehood Green primary

• Keith R. Ware, Nature Green owner^[5]

Results

District of Columbia Shadow Representative Statehood Green primary election, 2006^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	DC Statehood Green	Keith R. Ware	398	92.13
	DC Statehood Green	Write-ins	34	7.87
Total votes			432	100.0
	n/a	Overvotes	0
	n/a	Undervotes	106

Other primaries

A Republican primary was held but no candidates filed and only write-in votes were cast. Nelson Rimensnyder ran as a Republican in the general election.^[7]

General election

The general election took place on November 7, 2006.

Results

General election results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mike Panetta	82,759	77.47	−8.83
	DC Statehood Green	Keith R. Ware	13,511	12.65	−0.18
	Republican	Nelson Rimensnyder	9,700	9.08	+9.08
	Write-in		862	0.81	-0.6
Total votes			218,188	100.0%
	n/a	Overvotes	35
	n/a	Undervotes	15,471