Historically, shadow congressmen were elected by organized incorporated territories prior to their admission to the Union.^[1][2][3] From its origins in Tennessee, this approach is sometimes known as the Tennessee Plan.

The first shadow senators, William Blount and William Cocke of the Southwest Territory, were elected in March 1796, before being seated as senators representing the newly formed state of Tennessee. Michigan, California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Alaska likewise elected shadow senators before statehood. The Alaska Territory also elected the first shadow U.S. representative, Ralph Julian Rivers, in 1956. All were eventually seated in Congress as voting members, except for Alaska shadow senator William A. Egan, who instead became governor.^[1]

The election of shadow congresspersons from the District of Columbia is authorized by a state constitution ratified by D.C. voters in 1982 but never approved by Congress.^[4]

District of Columbia shadow senatorsEdit

The voters of the District of Columbia elect two shadow U.S. senators who are known as senators by the District of Columbia, but who are not officially sworn or seated by the U.S. Senate. Shadow U.S. senators were first elected in 1990.

The current shadow United States senators from the District of Columbia are Paul Strauss and Mike Brown.^[5]

District of Columbia shadow representativesEdit

The voters of the District of Columbia elect one shadow representative who is recognized as equivalent to U.S. representatives by the District of Columbia, but is not recognized by the U.S. government as an actual member of the House of Representatives. A shadow representative was first elected in 1990. Inaugural office-holder Charles Moreland held the seat for two terms. Most recently in November 2020, Oye Owolewa was elected to succeed retiring shadow representative Franklin Garcia.

D.C.'s shadow U.S. representative should not be confused with the non-voting delegate who represents the district in Congress.

The posts of shadow representatives and senators for Puerto Rico were created in 2017 as part of a newly formed Puerto Rico Equality Commission^[6] to fulfill campaign promises made by the New Progressive Party, which gained control of both the executive and legislative branch in the 2016 elections in part with calls for a status referendum in 2017. Pro-statehood governor Ricardo Rosselló appointed five shadow representatives and two shadow senators^[7] with the advice and consent of the Senate of Puerto Rico.^[8]

Following the pro-statehood vote in the 2020 Puerto Rican status referendum, the Puerto Rican legislature passed in a lame duck session Law 167 of 2020,^[9] replacing the Puerto Rico Equality Commission with the new Commission to the Congressional Delegation of Puerto Rico and establishing an electoral process for shadow delegates to Congress. Although an effort to overturn Law 167 passed the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico in early 2021 after the Popular Democratic Party gained control of the legislature, it did not have enough votes to sustain a threatened veto from pro-statehood governor Pedro Pierluisi.^[10][11]

Popular elections for two shadow senators and four shadow congressmen will be held on a nonpartisan basis every four years, with the first election held on May 16, 2021, so the delegates can take office on July 1. The law also appropriated funds for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration to cover the wages of the delegates and serve as their headquarters in Washington, D.C., where they will work on the statehood process with the island's resident commissioner in Congress.^[12]

Puerto Rico shadow senatorsEdit

Puerto Rico shadow representativesEdit

• District of Columbia voting rights
• District of Columbia statehood movement
• Federal voting rights in Puerto Rico
• Statehood movement in Puerto Rico

• A Brief History of the Shadow Senators of the United States
• Washington Post article on shadow delegation
• Official Site of District of Columbia
• Shadow Congressional Representatives contact information
• Puerto Rico Equality Commission
• Puerto Rico Federal Affair Administration