It's election day for Wards 4 and 8; and though it's not being talked about, this could have big

[Chathamization]

1. Low-turnout (14.78% so far); Mayor Muriel Bowsers well funded ally in Ward 4 won, and her well

funded ally in Ward 8 looks like she's going to win (there's about a thousand provisional ballots that still have to be counted).

Trayon White put up a very good fight in Ward 8, despite being outspent about 15 to 1 (second place winner in Ward 4, Renee Bowser, also put up a good showing while being massively outspent). He's already announced that if he loses the recount, he'll run again next year (this was a special election; these two seats will be up voted on again in 2016, during their normal cycle).

As always, it's amazing how important elections get completely ignored. Right now White is behind May in Ward 8 by just 152 votes. Bowser in Ward 4 lost to Todd by just 2,118 votes. These two Councilmembers are likely to have a big impact on policy. We saw how the Walmart minimum wage bill, for instance, ended up losing by just one member of the city council. Likewise, the Corizon contract might end up getting approved now, despite concerns over the treatment for inmates. And yet the vast majority of voters decided they didn't care one way or another and didn't bother voting. We need to change that if we want to see progress.