Michael Donald Brown (born August 5, 1953) is an American politician who served as the junior United States shadow senator from the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

from 2007 to 2025. As a shadow senator, Brown received no pay from the government, receives no budget from the government, and could not vote on matters before the Senate. While he did not have an office in the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

or any of the Senate's office buildings, the district's government provides the position with an office in the John A. Wilson Building. Brown lobbied the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives on behalf of the citizens of the district in their attempt to gain full representation in Congress,

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, and eventually

admittance to the Union Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that ...

as a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. As shadow senator, Brown also works with the district's delegate,

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, and

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

to advance the interest of local residents on federal issues. Brown was a member of the Democratic Party, until he changed his party registration to

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

in 2014. He re-joined the Democratic Party in 2017. Brown is known colloquially as "white Mike" to distinguish him from Michael A. Brown, another Washington, D.C. politician who shares the same name. Brown's opponent in one race suggested that some Washingtonians might be voting for Michael D. Brown thinking they were voting for Michael A. Brown; Michael D. Brown strenuously denied this possibility.

Positions

In 2018, Brown became irate that his delegation was not included in the D.C. Council's financing bill. After yelling and disrupting the proceedings, Brown quieted down after he was told that he would be forcibly removed from the premises.

2006 election

Brown ran for the position of shadow senator in 2006, using campaign posters with the slogan "the last Shadow Senator you'll ever need" and registering the

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

"shadowsenator.com" for his website.Holley, Joe
"The Race for November"
''The Washington Post''. September 3, 2006. Brown opposed a bill to give the district a full representative in the House of Representatives because it did not make the district a state. In the Democratic primary in September, he received 73 percent of the vote, defeating his opponent, Ward 8 activist Philip Pannell. Incumbent shadow senator Florence Pendleton was not on the primary ballot after Pannell challenged her nominating ballots. Of her required 2,000 ballots, only 1,559 were found to be valid. She campaigned as a write-in, but received only 2 percent of the vote. Pannell blamed his loss at least partly on voter confusion, since the better-known Michael A. Brown was running for mayor at the same time; others, including Michael A. Brown himself, agreed. In the November general election, Brown received 86 percent of the votes, while Joyce Robinson-Paul, a member of the

D.C. Statehood Green Party The D.C. Statehood Green Party, known as the DC Statehood Party prior to 1999, is a green progressive political party in the District of Columbia. The party is the D.C. affiliate of the national Green Party but has traditionally elevated issue ...

, received 14 percent. There was no Republican candidate running for the position.

2010 election

Brown was a candidate for at-large member of the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...

. Other Democrats running for the same position included Clark Ray and incumbent

Phil Mendelson Philip Heath Mendelson (born November 8, 1952) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Bro ...

, who was comfortably re-elected. Concerned that many voters would confuse which Michael Brown was on the ballot, Mendelson sent out mailers with pictures of both politicians.

2012 election

Brown sought reelection to his position as shadow senator in 2012. He had the endorsements of district progressive organizations and local Democratic party groups. Brown was challenged by a wealthy district landlord Peter A. Ross who self-funded his campaign and outspent Brown by a more than 200:1 ratio. Ross's campaign had to overcome news reports noting a past conviction for federal tax fraud and reports that he failed to pay his district real estate taxes.Notice of Real Property Sale
Office of Tax Revenue for the Government of the District of Columbia, September 2010. Brown won reelection.

2018 election

Brown faced a competitive primary challenge from Andria Thomas, defeating her by 51% to 47.3%. He was re-elected in the general election with 88.2% of the vote.

Electoral history

2006

2012

2018

Personal life

Brown was born in Newark, New Jersey, and moved to Montgomery County, Maryland, as a teenager. Brown received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in public policy from the University of Maryland. Brown has lived in the district since 1984, and he currently lives in the neighborhood of

American University Park American University Park is a Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., named for American University. AU Park, as it is often abbreviated, is situated against the Maryland border in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., No ...

. Brown is also the president and founder of Horizon Communications Corp., which provides direct-mail services to political organizations and non-profit organizations.

Race for DC Council

In 2014, Brown ran as an

for a seat on the

as an

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

member. He finished 3rd, but the top two finishers won the seats.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Michael Donald 1953 births Living people Politicians from Newark, New Jersey University of Maryland, College Park alumni United States shadow senators from the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., independents Washington, D.C., Democrats