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Votes are now being counted in D.C., where several council seats and an initiative that would drastically change the election process are on the ballot.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and while Democrats across the board are always heavy favorites in the deep-blue District, there were still races of intrigue, including one involving a sitting council member facing a federal indictment.
If you are in line to vote after the polls close, you can still vote as long as you remain in line.
For results on every race on the ballot in D.C., click here.
Trayon White seeks to fend off write-ins, Republican challenger
Council member Trayon White, who’s seeking his third consecutive term, is the Democratic nominee for the Ward 8 seat after winning the June primary with nearly 52% of the vote. His closest Democratic challenger, Salim Adofo, earned nearly 28%.
Following his primary victory, White was arrested in August and later indicted on a federal bribery charge. Prosecutors in the case have requested a July trial for White.
If he wins reelection to a third term and is found guilty at trial, he would then be disqualified from serving on the D.C. Council.
His arrest prompted a number of candidates to launch write-in campaigns, which are seen as long shot challenges to White, who has a strong base of support in his ward. The write-in candidates — all Democrats — are Michael Brown, Olivia Henderson, Khadijah A. Long and June Sherman.
Nate Derenge is the Republican candidate for the Ward 8 seat.
Initiative 83 brings possibility of big change to elections
Initiative 83 asks D.C. voters if they want to drastically change the election process in the District in two different ways.
The first would be switching from closed to semi-open primaries, meaning a voter who’s registered as an independent could vote in a party primary of their choosing. Currently, only those registered as either a Democrat or Republican can vote in those respective primaries.
The second change would be the switch to ranked choice voting. Currently, voters in D.C. cast one vote per race for their preferred candidate. Under ranked choice voting, voters can rank up to five candidates by preference.
The system ensures the winning candidate receives at least 50% of the vote by eliminating candidates with the fewest number of votes one by one until there is a majority winner.
On Initiative 83, voters were simply asked the following:
- Yes, to approve
- No, to reject
New face for Ward 7, contested races for at-large seats
No matter what happens Tuesday, Ward 7 will have a new representative on the D.C. Council.
Democratic Council member Vincent Gray decided not to seek reelection, leaving his seat open to a massive field of hopefuls that was whittled down during the June primary. Wendell Felder emerged victorious from that crowded Democratic primary with 23.8% of the vote, beating out the next two closest candidates by less than four points.
Felder previously worked in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration and had scored the critical endorsement of Gray, along with several other D.C. lawmakers.
Noah Montgomery is the Republican candidate in Ward 7.
The race for two of the D.C. Council’s at-large seats sees two incumbent Democrats, Christina Henderson and Robert White, heavily favored to win reelection, as they face a Republican challenger, Rob Simmons, and a D.C. Statehood Green Party challenger, Darryl Moch.
In Ward 2, incumbent Democrat Brooke Pinto is running unopposed for reelection, as is Democratic Council member Janeese Lewis George, who represents Ward 4.
Eleanor Holmes Norton is also running for reelection as D.C.’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. She faces three challengers: Independent candidate Michael Brown, Republican candidate Myrtle Patricia Alexander, and D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate Kymone Freeman.
D.C. voters also made choices for shadow representative and shadow senator, along with new Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and Board of Education members.
Below is a map of the presidential contest in D.C.
Visit WTOP’s Election 2024 page for comprehensive coverage.
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