Vincent Orange, the former Ward 5 councilmember, is now councilmember once again, this time as an at-large member. Mr. Orange secured 12,216 votes, or 28 percent, according to unofficial election results from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics for Tuesday’s special election.
Republican Patrick Mara, who received the Washington Post‘s endorsement, finished second with a surprising 11,096 votes, about 26 percent of the vote.
Councilmember Sekou Biddle finished third with 8,842 votes, or about 20 percent. In January, Biddle, who represented Ward 4 on the State Board of Education, was selected by the D.C. Democratic State Committee to fill the at-large seat vacated when Kwame Brown became Council chair.
Bryan Weaver, a former Ward 1 ANC commissioner who ran a strong campaign for Ward 1 councilmember in the fall, finished fourth with about 13 percent of the vote. Joshua Lopez, who worked in the Fenty campaign, received about 7 percent. Tom Brown, Dorothy Douglas, Arkan Haile and Alan Page split the remainder of the votes.
Throughout the city voting was light. Nellie McDonald has been the ballot clerk for Precinct 110 in Ward 7 for 35 years. She said, “There wasn’t a lot of campaigning. Generally this neighborhood is littered with signs but we didn’t have that this time.”
At Councilmember Biddle’s home precinct at Shepherd Elementary the polls didn’t open until 7:14 a.m., causing at least one person to leave without casting a ballot. Precinct Captain SaVanna Wanzer said, “We need more ballot clerks and staff to make sure that everything opens up on time.” Biddle said, “It’s unfortunate that they were not ready at 7:00 a.m… That’s just totally unacceptable.”
Despite the early morning glitch, voting appeared to run smoothly at polling places across the city thanks to the work of the unsung civic heroes we call poll workers. Shirley Dowtin has been the Precinct 59 captain since 1968. At Calvin Coolidge High School in Ward 4, Dowtin said, “I feel good when I see older people with canes [come vote] and I remember when I registered them.”
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- Precinct 110 is located at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church at 3601 Alabama Avenue, SE, in Ward 7. Voter turnout as of 3:05 p.m.: 207 paper ballots; 15 touch screen. Nellie McDonald, who lives three blocks from St. Timothy's, has been the ballot clerk at Precint 110 for more than 35 years. "We have a low turnout, and it is not normal for this precinct." McDonald offered a possible explanation for the low voter turnout: "There wasn't a lot of campaigning. Generally this neighborhood is littered with signs but we didn't have that this time."
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- Precinct 16 is located at Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church at 15th and R St, NW, in Ward 2. Compared to other precincts, voting was strong. As of 5:35 p.m. there were 172 paper ballots and 144 touch screen votes, totaling 316.
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- Precinct 141 is located at the Frank D. Reeves Center at 14th and U St, NW. While located in Ward 1, the precinct is for Ward 2 voters. At 9:10 a.m. Glenda Richmond, statehood advocate and Vincent Orange campaign worker, said of the turnout, "It's very slow."
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- At 7:14 AM Precinct 62, located at Shepherd Elementary School in Ward 4, opened with twelve people waiting in line. At least one person couldn't wait and left without voting. SaVanna Wanzer, precinct captain, said ten in staff is needed, not the seven present. "We need more ballot clerks and staff to make sure that everything opens up on time." "It's unfortunate that they were not ready at 7:00 a.m. and open," said Councilmember Sekou Biddle, standing outside Precinct 62, where he votes. "That's just totally unacceptable."
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- At 10:20 a.m., Precinct 46, located at E.L. Haynes Charter School in Ward 4, had 81 voters: Six people voted on the touchscreen and 75 voted by paper ballot. Outside the school, Tia Titus, a supporter of Ward 4 State Board of Education candidate Andrew Moss, said, "It's been very quiet."
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- Precinct 59 is located at Calvin Coolidge High School at 5th and Tuckerman St, NW in Ward 4. Shirley Dowtin is the precinct captain, and she has been since 1968. "I feel good when I see older people with canes [come vote], and I remember when I registered them."
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- Precinct 63 is normally located at Takoma Elementary School, but was moved to Takoma Community Center at 300 Van Buren St, NW, in Ward 4. Voter turnout as of 11:50 a.m.: Paper ballot: 114; Touchscreen: 39; Total: 153.
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- Precinct 44 is normally located Ukranian National Shrine, but was moved to the Plymouth senior housing complex at 5233 North Capitol St, NE, in Ward 5. Voting totals as of 12:37 p.m.: paper ballots: 73; touchscreen: 18 Sidenote: Here's my understanding of how the Plymouth senior housing complex got built. It was supposed to be a gas station, but Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, had other ideas for the property directly across the street from his church. Hagler, along with several of his congregants, laid down in front of the bulldozers. This act of civil disobedience led to negotiations, which ultimately resulted in the senior housing units being built.
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- Precinct 19 is located at the historic Dunbar High School at 1301 New Jersey Avenue, NW, in Ward 5. Voter turnout as of 2:15 p.m. stood at: 133 paper ballots; 7 touchscreen. Sidenote: Three years into former Mayor Adrian Fenty and former Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's so-called school reform, Dunbar was no better off. At a town hall meeting held last fall by then presumptive Mayor-elect Gray, Dunbar students desribed not having an adequate number of classroom seats. Friends of Bedford, the private company which had been brought in by Rhee to run Dunbar, was let go by Mayor Gray for poor performance.