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D.C. voters have reelected Ward 8 Council member Trayon White, despite the fact he awaits trial on a federal bribery charge, and have also approved an initiative that will implement ranked choice voting and allow independents to vote in District primaries.
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 Initiative 83 and the Ward 8 Council race.
A new face was also elected to the D.C. Council, and, to no one’s surprise, the District’s presidential contest was called for Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
For results on every race on the ballot in D.C., click here.
DC voters approve Initiative 83, bringing big change to elections
Initiative 83, which asked D.C. voters if they wanted to drastically change the election process in the District in two different ways, has passed, according to The Associated Press.
The first will be switching from closed to semi-open primaries, meaning a voter who’s registered as an independent will now be able to 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 will 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 will be able to 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 – 72.36%
- No, to reject – 27.64%
The above results are from the time of The AP’s race call Tuesday night.
Under federal indictment, Trayon White retains DC Council seat
Trayon White won a third consecutive term as the Ward 8 representative on the D.C. Council, beating Republican challenger Nate Derenge and a number of write-in candidates who launched candidacies following White’s arrest on a federal bribery charge in August.
The Associated Press called the race in favor of White at around 10:45 p.m., with The Associated Press reporting he had 83.8% of the vote at that time. Despite the criminal case against him, White remained a heavy favorite and maintains a strong base of support in his ward.
Derenge earned 16.1% of the vote, according to The AP.
Prosecutors in White’s case have requested a July trial. If he’s found guilty, he would then be disqualified from serving on the D.C. Council.
For its part, the council has created an ad hoc committee that will investigate White. The council has also voted to dissolve the Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs and remove White as chairman.
New face for Ward 7, incumbents win at-large seats
Ward 7 has a new representative on the D.C. Council.
Wendell Felder blew out his Republican opponent Noah Montgomery, taking 94% of the vote to Montgomery’s 6% at the time The Associated Press called the race.
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. 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.
In the race for two at-large seats on the D.C. Council, both incumbents, Christina Henderson and Robert White, won reelection Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press.
White had 61.8% of the vote, with Henderson earning the next largest share — 24.3% at the time of the race call. D.C. Statehood Green Party challenger Darryl Moch got 7.6% and Republican challenger Rob Simmons earned 6.4%, The AP reported.
In Ward 2, incumbent Democrat Brooke Pinto ran unopposed for reelection, as did Democratic Council member Janeese Lewis George, who represents Ward 4.
Eleanor Holmes Norton won reelection as D.C.’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. She faced 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, electing Oye Owolewa and Ankit Jain, respectively, along with new Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and Board of Education members.
A map of the presidential contest in D.C. is below.
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