Paul Strauss

Political career

As one of the District of Columbia's two Shadow Senators, Strauss lobbies the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of the citizens of D.C. in their attempt to gain full federal representation, self-determination, and eventually admittance to the Union as the 51st state.

Strauss opposed efforts by various members of the United States Congress to overturn the District's ban on handguns, institute school vouchers in the District, and institute a flat tax in the District.

In 2006, Strauss ran for the District's City Council to represent Ward 3. He came in second place in the Democratic primary, receiving 15% of the vote, while Mary Cheh received 44% of the vote.

Strauss was selected to be a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention where he endorsed Barack Obama.

Strauss was re-elected in 2008. Strauss received 65% of the vote in the September Democratic primary, while Democratic challenger Phil Pannell received 33%. In the November general election, Strauss faced Republican Nelson F. Rimensnyder, D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate Keith Ware, and Libertarian Party Candidate Damien Lincoln Ober. Strauss received 82% of the vote, giving him his largest margin of victory ever.

Strauss was again re-elected in 2014, with 77.3% of the vote.

Personal life

Strauss was born in Brooklyn, was raised in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1982, earning his bachelor's degree (1986) and Juris Doctor (1993) at American University. Strauss lives in the Observatory Circle/Glover Park neighborhood in the District. Strauss is an attorney and principal of the Law Offices of Paul Strauss & Associates, P.C., a law firm specializing in real estate, business, and family law. Strauss is a former Chairperson of the District's Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals.

He has been a union organizer for Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 25.

As a youth, Strauss was volunteer in election campaigns of Mario Biaggi, Hugh Carey, and Jimmy Carter. At 17, he interned for New York City Mayor Ed Koch with his own desk in the Tweed Courthouse. In his first political campaign in Washington, D.C., he mobilized other college students to register to vote against raising the drinking age to 21. He is a former at-large member of Washington, D.C.'s Democrat State Committee and Chairman of its Statehood Committee.

On October 1, 2008, Strauss was arrested for drunken driving. He was found to have a blood-alcohol level at twice the legal level of intoxication. On May 29, 2009, he pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail sentence, 11 months of supervised probation, a $300 fine, and $100 fine to be paid to the victims of violent crime compensation fund.

Election history

1996 Shadow Senator, D.C., Democratic Primary Election

1996 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election

2002 Shadow Senator, D.C., Democratic Primary Election

2002 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election

2006 Representative for Ward 3 in the D.C. Council, Democratic Primary Election

2008 Shadow Senator, D.C., Democratic Primary Election

2008 Shadow Senator, D.C., General Election