John Capozzi

American politician

John Capozzi

Shadow Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from the District of Columbia's At-large district
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by| Charles Moreland
Succeeded by| Sabrina Sojourner
Personal details
Born| 1956 (age 67-68)
Montville, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party| Democratic
Other political
affiliations| Rent Is Too Darn High (affiliated non member[1])
Education| Shippensburg University (BA)
American University (MPA)

John James Capozzi, Jr. (born 1956) is an American politician who served as Shadow U.S. Representative for the District of Columbia between 1995 and 1997 and was a member of the District of Columbia Democratic State Committee for over 20 years, most recently as chair of the Environmental Caucus.[2][3][4]

## Political career

[edit]

Prior to his election as Shadow U.S. Representative of the District of Columbia, Capozzi was involved in organizing protests in front of the Rayburn House office building in support of DC Statehood. He met with a number of Congresspersons prior to the 1993 vote for DC Statehood, the only vote of its kind to be held by the House of Representatives until 2022.

As the Shadow Representative, Capozzi worked with the Reverend Garyland Ellis Hagler and Council member William Lightfoot in pointing out Fannie Mae, then the largest private sector company in DC, was exempt from paying DC corporate income taxes. As a shareholder in the company, Capozzi sponsored a s shareholder's initiative to have the company make a payment, in lieu of taxes, to DC.[5]

Rather than run for reelection in 1996, Capozzi ran as in the race to become an at-large councilmember on the Council of the District of Columbia and was defeated September 10, 1996.[6]

In 2002, at Capozzi's initiative, the DC Council debated a proposal to change the District's flag in protest of DC's lack of voting rights in Congress. The new design would have added the letters "D.C." to the center start and the words "Taxation without Representation" in white on the upper and lower bars, the format already used on District licence plates. The change, presumably, would have been temporary and revoked once the city achieved equal representation or statehood. Capozzi's proposal was passed by the council by a 10–2 vote, but the final design was never adopted.[citation needed]

In 2012, Capozzi was among the candidates who ran to replace at-large councilman Phil Mendelson. Mendelson resigned his council seat after incumbent Council Chairman Kwame Brown resigned because of legal troubles.[7] In a vote on December 10 by the District of Columbia Democratic State Committee, Capozzi placed third out of three candidates behind winner Anita Bonds and Doug Sloan.[8]

## Successful Electoral history

[edit]

1994 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia[9][10] Primary election

Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %
| Democratic | John Capozzi  | 85,366  | 94.36
| Write-in | 5,101  | 5.64
Total votes  | 90,467  | 100.00
General election
| Democratic | John Capozzi  | 104,532  | 68.65
| Republican | Edward D. Turpin  | 18,756  | 12.32
| DC Statehood | Paul McAllister  | 14,147  | 9.29
| Independent | Keith Mitchell (Withdrawn) | 13,190  | 8.66
| Write-in | 1,644  | 1.08
Total votes  | 152,269  | 100.00
| Democratic hold

## Environmental advocacy

[edit]

### Green Home in Hillcrest

[edit]

In August 2009 Capozzi made headlines in a local publication, East of the River. The former shadow Rep was highlighted by reporter, Gerri Williams in an article called 'A Green Home in Hillcrest'.[11] Capozzi and his wife Sue built the first Green Home with solar panels and LED thermal heating and cooling located in the South East region of Washington, D.C.

Solar energy was not new to Capozzi, as his parents installed solar in their home in 1976.

### Green Power Advocacy

[edit]

Since 2010 Capozzi, has been an active DC SUN member, filed a shareholder resolution with Pepco to force the company to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions from products and operations. He was quoted by a District of Columbia advocacy group, The Fight Back, as saying, "If they were making more money through solar then maybe they would have had more capacity to do a better job with reliability."[12]

## Personal life

[edit]

He previously worked for BRMi Consulting[13] as a Recruitment Manager, and has worked for the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer of the District of Columbia with human resources, community outreach, and digital in conclusion.[14]

## See also

[edit]

* Shadow congressperson
* Political party strength in Washington, D.C.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ ""Rent Is Too Darn High" Slate Looks to Upset Democratic State Committee Regulars". Washington City Paper. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
2. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - John Capozzi". www.ourcampaigns.com.
3. ^ DC Board of Elections and Ethics
4. ^ DC Council, see pg.5 Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ "Wilson as Media Spin Doctor". Washington City Paper. Washington, D.C. 14 June 1996.
6. ^ DC Board of Elections and Ethics: At-Large Councilmember
7. ^ Madden, Patrick (10 December 2012). "D.C. Democratic Committee To Chose Council Member". WAMU 88.5. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
8. ^ "DC Council - At-Large - Appointment". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
9. ^ "September 13 Primary Election". DC Board of Elections. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
10. ^ "November 8 General Election". DC Board of Elections. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
11. ^ "East of the River".
12. ^ "Pepco(al)".
13. ^ Williams, Rachel. "HOME". BRMi.
14. ^ "Public Employee Salary Information | dchr". dchr.dc.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-05.

U.S. House of Representatives

Preceded by

Charles Moreland

|  Shadow Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from the District of Columbia's at-large congressional district
1995–1997  | Succeeded by

Sabrina Sojourner