Last night’s primary results are in and they spell defeat for Republican At-large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz at the hands of Upstart Patrick Mara, backed by big-business interests in DC. Mara has won the right to represent the Republican party for the two at-large seats on the Council this fall. He’ll face Kwame Brown, Michael Brown, Dee Hunter and David Schwartzman, with the top two vote-getters picking up seats on the council.
Of course, last night’s election wasn’t entirely drama-free, as the DCBOEE published erroneous results on their site more than once last night. The culprit ended up being an optical scan ballot-reader in one precinct which was showing a large number of write-in votes that were being counted incorrectly.
All of the other councilpersons defended their challenges successfully, including Mayor-for-Life Barry (Ward 8). While their elections are just for the party slot on the November ballot, in largely Democratic DC, they’re virtually guaranteed re-election.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
Mara was backed by people who want a SANE business environment in the District of Columbia. The fact that a few businesses may have been able to contribute to Pat’s campaign is irrelevant– his candidacy is about freedom and prosperity.