Who is Mike Panetta?

Mike Panetta was recently elected to the position of U.S. Representative in the November 7th election in the District of Columbia, DC. The position is often referred to as the "Shadow Representative" and should not be confused with the office of Delegate to Congress, which is currently held by Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Mike has run several high-profile campaigns for DC representation including starting an Olympic team for the District and leading efforts to rebrand RFK Stadium as "Taxation Without Representation Field" Mike pledges to make the DC voting rights issue a national one that is embraced by progressive activists across the country.

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    Mike Panetta has been active on the issue of DC representation for several years. Some of his more well known efforts have included:

    DC Olympic Curling TeamThe District of Columbia Olympic Committee
    If Puerto Rico, with their non-voting Congressional delegate can have an Olympic team, why can’t the District have one? This campaign was hailed by Marc Fisher at The Washington Post as the “best grab for attention to the D.C. voting rights issue since Foggy Bottom resident Sarah Shapiro proposed back in 2000 to put “Taxation Without Representation” on D.C. license plates.” The story was carried by media outlets around the world. (read more | watch Fox 5 story)

    Taxation Without Representation Stadium
    When the Nationals came to town in 2005, the naming rights for RFK stadium were up for grabs. Mike worked to buy the rights to name the stadium “Taxation Without Representation Field at RFK” and raised over $100,000 in pledges for the cause.

    SupremelyScrewed.com

    During the hearings for Justice Alito, there was nobody in the Senate to represent the concerns of the District. Mike launched SupremelyScrewed.com to bring attention to the issue and allow District residents to submit their questions for the nominee directly to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    If elected, Mike pledges to continue to persue creative ideas to bring the issue of DC disenfrancisement to voters across the country.

    Mike has lived in DC since 1989 when he came to town to attend American Univeristy and is currently an Assistant Vice President with the public affairs consulting firm, Grassroots Enterprise. He and his wife Cady are exepecting their first child in O