WASHINGTON — Voters are going to the polls Tuesday in the D.C. mayoral primary.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Eight candidates are running. Mayor Vincent Gray and D.C. Councilmember Muriel Bowser been neck-in-neck in the polls. In addition to them, D.C. Councilmembers Jack Evans, Tommy Wells and Vincent Orange are running, as well as Busboys and Poets owner Andal Shallal, former State Department official Reta Jo Lewis and Carlos Allen.
The winner of the primary will face independent D.C. Councilman David Catania in November.
Early voting in the D.C. mayoral primary closed Saturday, and even though there were more sites where people could cast ballots, the early-vote totals were down about 7,000 from the previous primary, four years ago.
Clifford Tatum, head of the D.C. Board of Elections, says the board expanded from eight permanent early-voting sites to 13, and “we were hoping to see a bigger turnout.”
Tatum says the weather was the biggest factor, but some of it was simply indecision.
“When you have a field of eight candidates, there are a lot of choices to be made,” he says.
Find your polling place:
For more information about voting in the primary on April 1, visit the District of Columbia Board of Elections website.
WTOP’s Andrew Mollenbeck contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
