DC Dem Profiles: Shadow Representative

This Summer, Sum of Change will be bringing you extensive coverage of D.C. local elections. To kick it off, we've been invited by D.C. for Democracy to film their pre-endorsement candidate meet n' greet on Wednesday, June 2. In preparation, we put together some bios on all the candidates that will be attending. Bios for Republican candidates for these seats will be coming shortly. To find all our current DC candidate bios, please visit our 2010 DC Election Page.

These are the Democratic candidates for Shadow Representative

Shadow Representative Mike Panetta (incumbent)

From Mike Panetta's official online bio:

Mike Panetta has been the District of Columbia shadow representative since 2007...

Panetta has run several high-profile campaigns for D.C. representation, including starting the District of Columbia Olympic Committee and leading efforts to rebrand RFK Stadium as “Taxation Without Representation Field”.[2][3] Panetta has pledged to make District of Columbia voting rights a national issue that is embraced by progressive activists across the country.

Panetta was reelected in 2008, facing no opposition in the Democratic primary[4] and defeating D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate Joyce Robinson-Paul in the November election by 86 to 13 percent.

Nate Bennett-Fleming

From Nate Bennett-Fleming's official online bio:

Nathan's work in public service was launched in 2001, when Nathan was a staff assistant and intern in Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's office. After learning from Congresswoman Norton, Nathan has worked on several national, state, and local campaigns including the Ben Cardin for U.S. Senate campaign, where he was a regional field coordinator and the John Kerry for President campaign, where he was the deputy national director of African-American Religious Outreach.

In 2009, Nathan worked on crafting a comprehensive strategy to achieve statehood and congressional representation with the D.C. Councils Special Committee on Statehood and Self Determination, chaired by Councilmember Michael A. Brown. In addition, Nathan has gained legislative and legal experience as a summer attorney at two Washington D.C. law firms. Nathan also has finance experience gained as an summer analyst at the Wall Street investment banking powerhouse, Goldman, Sachs & Co. The variety and depth of Nathans professional experiences leaves him as the best qualified candidate to advocate for self-determination and to represent D.C.s residents as a liaison to the United States House of Representatives.

Jon Kuhl

From Jon Kuhl's official online bio:

Having always been passionate about civic involvement, Jon works as the Speaker and Congressional Affairs Manager at the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, a non-partisan organization that runs leadership conferences for students from across the country. In addition to managing the organization’s relationships on Capitol Hill, Jon organizes weekly visits to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for groups of high school students. As part of his work, Jon also moderates a bi-monthly webcast featuring former members of Congress discussing various topics designed to give high school students a better understanding of how our government works.

Jon believes strongly that the District of Columbia should have full voting rights in Congress, and is intent on building a national coalition of support to end our city’s taxation without representation. Unsatisfied with the status quo, Jon wants to engage his fellow Washingtonians in an effort to increase pressure on Congress. With Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and with President Obama in the White House, now is the time to demand representation.