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Ciprian Ivanof

Republican candidate for United States Representative, District of Columbia · Open seat

Attorney

Ciprian Ivanof is a Republican attorney and former Army National Guard member who was born in Romania. He is running for U.S. Shadow Representative for the District of Columbia, a second try after losing the 2024 general election to incumbent Oye Owolewa. He won the Republican nomination in the June 16, 2026 primary and faces Democrat Franklin Garcia on November 3, 2026.

Where Ivanof stands

DC statehood: Opposes statehood for now. Says DC is not ready to be a state until there is basic accountability for bad management, and argues statehood would reward the officials responsible for that mismanagement.
Role of the shadow delegation: Argues the shadow delegation should scrutinize how the District is managed rather than only push for statehood. Pledges to read the bills the DC Council proposes and explain them to residents.
Public safety: Lists public safety as a campaign focus. Says fixing crime takes attention and that judges were not investigated as they should have been.
Education: Says education in DC is broken and pledges to ask questions and demand answers from city officials.
Local governance and party competition: Argues that DC's one-party system leads to groupthink, and says more debate is needed to expose the pitfalls of a policy.

Background

Republican nominee for U.S. Shadow Representative, DC, 2024 (lost general election, 8.5%)
Minnesota Army National Guard, 2008–2015; DC National Guard, 2015–2017
Naval Reserve Officer Corps midshipman, 2006–2007
B.A. in History, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2013
J.D., American University Washington College of Law, 2018
Attorney

In the news

The Election Isn't Over Yet Hill Rag, October 13, 2026

Also running for United States Representative

Franklin Garcia Democratic

Sources

Last researched October 23, 2026. Written in neutral language from the sources above. Spot an error? See how to report it.