political shadow 

1. A government employee whose job is not viewed to be particularly important by most of the people who don’t work for the government that run into them, but their role plays an important function in keeping the government running efficiently and effectively. Usually, their employer or the individual/s who run the department or agency, because of their position in the government, work in the public spotlight, while political shadows tend to work more in the background, or in other words in the shadows, where they are seldom noticed by the general public. Often times these people either work in jobs where they don't deal with people that often, or they work in jobs where they deal with people frequently, but their role is frequently viewed as being less important than the role held by their employer.
2. The political impact an individual or group has on the world around them

1. Dave is a political shadow. He is a policy analysist who works for the U.S. Representative Aderholt. Most of the people who encounter him don't think his role is anywhere near as important as the role his employer has in the U.S. Government; yet without Dave, the policies would not be written that well and may not be as effective in achieving what the law was intended to do. Hence, he plays a very important role in ensuring the government operates in an effective manner.
2: Alexandra has a large political shadow because of the large number of Black Lives Matter protests and women's marches she has attended over the past four to five years; along with the numerous times she has lobbied political officials on various issues related to gender equality, gun control, racial justice, education, and the Covid-19. She has a very large political impact on the world around her.

political shadow by Vanguard 1998 March 20, 2021