Political activist Mike Panetta bested attorney James Bubar Tuesday for the shadow U.S. House representative seat Tuesday.
Panetta, assistant vice president of Grassroots Enterprises, earned 47 percent of the vote. Bubar, 53, received 17 percent.
John Forster, who dropped out of the race last month, received 33 percent.
Panetta, 35, has started a D.C. Olympic curling team. Last year, he led a campaign to name RFK Stadium “Taxation Without Representation Field.” Bubar is co-chair of the D.C. Bar’s District of Columbia Affairs section.
Panetta will face Statehood Green party candidate Keith Ware in the general election in November. Ware was uncontested Tuesday.
Shadow U.S. Rep. Ray Browne did not run for re-election.
The “shadow” representatives are non-voting representatives whose primary purpose is to lobby for voting rights for the District. The volunteer positions are unpaid and come with few perks.
But that may change as the voting rights movement gains steam. The D.C. Voting Rights Act, sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., adds D.C. to the House of Representatives.
