 He stood against Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for the Division of Mayo in Adelaide, winning 22.4% of the primary vote to Downer's 45.6%, taking the vote to preferences.After the distribution of preferences, Downer held the seat 51.7% to Schumann's 48.3%.Despite coming close to winning the seat, Schumann decided not to contest the seat in the 2001 election, citing a number of reasons including family commitments and the Democrats' decision to elect Senator Natasha Stott Despoja as leader in April 2001.