WASHINGTON — Primary voters in D.C. tossed three incumbents off the District’s Council in favor of two challengers and one former mayor.
Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray won his primary race for his old Council seat, ousting incumbent Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander and making a political comeback after a federal investigation derailed his last campaign.
“Victory! Thank you!” Gray posted on his Twitter account Tuesday night.
Gray lost his 2014 re-election bid in a primary challenge to Mayor Muriel Bowser amid the then-ongoing investigation into a shadow campaign that supported Gray’s successful mayoral race four years earlier. The probe cast a shadow over his entire term in the mayor’s office.
The investigation ended last year after the U.S. attorney’s office said that Gray would not face any charges.
Bowser tried to drum up support for Alexander and other council members, greeting voters at polling places Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.
Robert White beat at-large member Vincent Orange, who first joined the council in 1999, winning 40 percent of the votes to Orange’s 37 percent. A third candidate, David Garber, won 15 percent of the votes cast according to unofficial results.
And Trayon White took 51 percent of the votes cast in the Ward 8 race to beat Councilwoman LaRuby May, who garnered 43 percent of the votes, according to unofficial results.
No Republican or D.C. Statehood Green candidate filed for either of the ward seats. Robert White will face Republican Carolina Celnik and Statehood Green candidate Lee Aiken in the general election.
Ward 4 Councilman Brandon Todd won his race with 49 percent of the vote.
All results are unofficial until certified by the D.C. Board of Elections.
* denotes incumbent
At-Large
(143 out of 143 precincts reporting )
David Garber -14.6 percent
Vincent Orange* — 37.4 percent
Robert White — 39.7 percent (Projected winner)
Ward 4
Ron Austin — 3 percent
Calvin H. Gurley — 3 percent
Brandon Todd* — 49 percent (Winner)
Leon T. Andrews Jr. — 41 percent
Ward 7
Yvette Alexander* — 33 percent
Grant Thompson — 3.3 percent
Delmar Chesley — 2 percent
Vincent Gray — 60 percent (Winner)
Ward 8
Maurice T. Dickens — 0.8 percent
Trayon White — 51 percent (Winner)
Aaron Holmes — 3.4 percent
Bonita Goode — 0.8 percent
LaRuby May* — 42 percent
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the names of the Republican and D.C. Statehood Green candidates for the at-large Council seat.
