Walter E. Fauntroy (born February 6, 1933) was the second Delegate elected to the United States House of Representatives from the District of Columbia in the 20th century. He was born in Washington, DC, and studied at Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia and at Yale University Divinity School. He became a pastor at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Washington, DC, serving from 1959 to the present. He was the founder and director of the Model Inner City Community Organization, a director of the Washington Bureau of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, vice chairman of the District of Columbia City Council, vice chairman of the White House Conference to Fulfill These Rights, national coordinator of the Poor People’s Campaign, chairman of the board of directors of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia, a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Fauntroy was elected as a Democrat as Delegate to the House, serving from March 23, 1971 - January 3, 1991. During his tenure, he was a member of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1990, but was an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Washington, DC. He still lives in Washington.
The task force investigating the House banking scandal charged Fauntroy with an unrelated count of making a false statement regarding a charitable contribution Fauntroy made to his church. Fauntroy pled guilty.
