DC Primary: Unofficial Election Results: Janeese Lewis George Overtakes Brandon Todd In Ward 4
After an election night marked by wait times stretching past four or five hours at polling sites, Janeese Lewis George appears to have bested incumbent Brandon Todd in Ward 4 in the Democratic primary, while Brooke Pinto holds an extremely narrow lead in Ward 2, according to unofficial election results that don’t include special and some absentee ballots.
Incumbents Vincent Gray and Trayon White, in wards 7 and 8, appear to be handily holding on to their seats. Both lead by margins of around 2,000 votes.
All 144 precincts are reporting, and the Board of Elections previously announced that it would be counting early votes, ballots cast on election day, and absentee ballots received by June 2.
While Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Statehood Greens, and independents all cast ballots in the primary, the Democratic primaries in deeply blue D.C. are most often more competitive than November’s general election. (An exception is an At-large race for the seat that David Grosso is vacating, which cannot be filled by a Democrat.)
Absentee and provisional ballots will continue to be counted in the coming days, and it is likely to be at least three weeks before the Board of Elections certifies the results. It’s not clear exactly how many ballots remain to be counted.
The Ward 4 race is a test of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s political machine—Todd was her handpicked successor and received an endorsement from her. He was also backed by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who considers the moderate councilmember an “important ally.”
But George, who described herself as a “people-first” candidate and racked up a series of progressive endorsements, is up by about 10 percent—more than 1,500 votes. Her campaign has yet to officially declare victory, but campaign chair Zach Teusch tweeted, “Ward 4, based on these numbers it appears you have a new Councilmember. “
https://dcist.com/story/20/06/03/unofficial-election-results-janeese-lewis-george-overtakes-brandon-todd-in-ward-4-brooke-pinto-narrowly-leads-in-ward-2/
