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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, July 25, 2008
The
D.C.
Board
of
Elections
and
Ethics
on
Wednesday
cleared
veteran
gay
and
community
activist
Phil
Pannell
to
appear
on
the
city’s
Democratic
primary
ballot
in
September
as
a
candidate
for
shadow
senator
after
representatives
of
incumbent
shadow
Senator
Paul
Strauss
dropped
a
challenge
to
Pannell’s
petition
signatures.
Former
shadow
senator
Florence
Pendleton
and
incumbent
shadow
Senator
Michael
Brown
filed
a
challenge
to
some
of
Pannell’s
petitions,
claiming
more
than
a
hundred
signatures
had
been
forged.
Pannell
called
the
allegation
baseless
and
said
the
challenge
was
aimed
at
knocking
him
off
the
ballot
to
give
Strauss
a
free
ride
in
his
re-election
bid.
Under
city
election
rules,
2,000
valid
signatures
of
D.C.
registered
voters
are
needed
for
gaining
access
to
the
ballot
for
a
citywide
race
like
the
shadow
senate
contest.
Pannell
said
he
obtained
more
than
3,000
petition
signatures.
In
the
1970s,
the
city
created
two
shadow
Senate
seats
and
one
shadow
House
seat
as
positions
for
lobbying
Congress
for
D.C.
statehood
and
D.C.
voting
representation
in
Congress.
The
shadow
posts
have
no
salaries
or
staff
support
and
have
no
congressional
powers
or
authority.
Shadow
Senator
Michael
Brown
beat
Pannell
for
the
other
Senate
shadow
seat
in
2006
in
a
contest
that
critics
said
was
influenced
by
voters’
misidentification
of
him
as
being
another
Michael
Brown,
the
1996
D.C.
mayoral
candidate
and
longtime
Democratic
Party
leader.
Pannell’s
supporters
have
said
Pannell
would
have
beat
shadow
candidate
Brown,
who
was
a
political
newcomer,
had
voters
not
confused
him
with
the
other
Brown,
who
is
widely
known
and
admired
as
a
Democratic
Party
leader.
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