DC Election Results: Biden Wins District; Council Seats To Come

Updated at 9:38 p.m.

WASHINGTON, DC — Residents of Washington, D.C., went to the polls Tuesday to cast their vote in a number of races — both national and local. At 9:27 p.m., the Associated Press said that Democrat Joe Biden won the District of Columbia.

(Find District of Columbia vote totals as they come in live at the bottom of this story.)

Polls closed in D.C. at 8 p.m., on Tuesday, and all that's left to do is count the votes and tally the results. Patch will be updating this article throughout the night with the latest vote totals.

A DC watch party at McPherson Square drew a crowd of voters and activists. At the same time, Metropolitan Police Department officers on bicycles swept in to stop a man causing a disturbance at Black Lives Matter Plaza. Crowds with cellphones out and video cameras surrounded the police, who formed a perimeter with their bicycles.

Voting late Tuesday morning was slow and steady, according to polling officials at the Columbia Heights Rec Center and Capital One Arena voting centers. Voters were greeted at the latter site by three local sports stars — Ish Smith and Admiral Schofield of the Washington Wizards and Tianna Hawkins of the Washington Mystics. Hungry voters at 20 locations across the city were also able to grab a snack thanks to the World Central Kitchen.

This year, D.C. voters decided who will be their elector of president and vice president; delegate to the U.S. House; shadow representatives to the U.S. House and U.S. Senate; at-large member of the State Board of Education; member of the D.C. Council in Wards 2, 4, 7, and 8; member of the State Board of Education for Wards 2, 4, 7, and 8; and advisory neighborhood commissioner.

They will also voted on initiative Measure Number 81, which would decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi in the District.

Results

Electors of President and Vice President

• Jo Jorgensen - Jeremy "Spike" Cohen (Libertarian)

• Howie Hawkins - Angela Walker (Statehood Green)

• Joseph R. Biden - Kamala D. Harris (Democratic)

• Gloria La Riva - Sunil Freeman (Independent)

• Donald J. Trump - Michael R. Pence (Republican)

• Brock Pierce - Karla Ballard (Independent)

Delegate to the House of Representatives

• Omari Musa (Socialist Workers)

• Amir Lowery (Independent)

• Patrick Hynes (Libertarian)

• Natale Lino Stracuzzi (Statehood Green)

• Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democratic)

• John "Recovery" Cheeks (Independent)

• Barbara Washington Franklin (Independent)

• David Krucoff (Independent)

At-Large Member of D.C. Council

• Vincent Orange (Independent)

• Franklin Garcia (Independent)

• Rick Murphree (Independent)

• Marya Pickering (Republican)

• Marcus Goodwin (Independent)

• Markus Batchelor (Independent)

• Michangelo "DoctorMic" Scruggs (Independent)

• Mario Cristaldo (Independent)

• Calvin H. Gurley (Independent)

• Claudia Barragán (Independent)

• Keith Silver (Independent)

• Alexander M. "Alex" Padro (Independent)

• Robert White (Democrat)

• Jeanné Lewis (Independent)

• Mónica Palacio (Independent)

• Ann C. Wilcox (Statehood Green)

• Joe Bishop-Henchman (Libertarian)

• Kathy Henderson (Independent)

• Eric M. Rogers (Independent)

• Chander Jayaraman (Independent)

• A'Shia Howard (Independent)

• Ed Lazere (Independent)

• Will Merrifield (Independent)

Ward 2 Member of the D.C Council

• Randy Downs (Independent)

• Brooke Pinto (Democratic)

• Martín Miguel Fernandez (Independent)

• Peter Bolton (Statehood Green)

Ward 4 Member of the D.C Council

• Perry Redd (Statehood Green)

• Janeese Lewis George (Democratic)

Ward 7 Member of the D.C Council

• Vincent C. Gray (Democratic)

Ward 8 Member of the D.C Council

• Trayon "Ward Eight" White (Democratic)

• Fred Hill (Independent)

• Christopher Cole (Independent)

• Nate 'Ward 8' Derenge (Republican)

U.S. Senator

• Cornelia Weiss (Republican)

• Eleanor Ory (Echo) (Statehood Green)

• Paul Strauss (Democrat)

U.S. Representative

• Sohaer Rizvi Syed (Independent)

• Oye Owolewa (Democrat)

• Joyce (Chestnut) Robinson-Paul (Statehood Green)

At-Large Member of the State Board of Education

• Jacque Patterson

• Mysiki Valentine

• Ravi K. Perry

• Chris Martin

• Dorothy Douglas

• Troy Murphy

Ward 2 Member of the State Board of Education

• Allister Chang

• James Harnett

• Sarah Mehrotra

• Christopher Etesse

Ward 4 Member of the State Board of Education

• Frazier L. O'Leary, Jr.

Ward 7 Member of the State Board of Education

• Don Trell Smith

• Charles Boston

• Eboni - Rose Thompson

• Karen Williams

Ward 8 Member of the State Board of Education

• Ryan Washington

• Carlene D. Reid

• Lajoy Johnson-Law

Initiative Measure No. 81: Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020If enacted, this Initiative would:

1. Make the investigation and arrest of adults for non-commercial planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, possessing, and/or engaging in practices with entheogenic plants and fungi among the Metropolitan Police Department's lowest law enforcement priorities; and

2. Codify that the people of the District of Columbia call upon the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia to cease prosecution of residents of the District of Columbia for these activities.

A long-time enclave of the Democratic Party, the District is expected to choose former Vice President Joe Biden (D) over President Donald Trump by a wide margin, according to a recent poll by FiveThirtyEight.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who has been the District's non-voting member to the House of Representatives since 1990, faces seven challengers this year: Omari Musa (SW), Amir Lowery (Independent), Patrick Hynes (L), Natale Lino Stracuzzi (SG), John "Recovery" Cheeks (I), Barbara Washington Franklin (I), and David Krucoff (I). As a long-serving Democrat, Norton will likely be tough to beat.

Four candidates are vying to be the Ward 2 member on the D.C. Council. Brook Pinto (D) won the June 2 Democratic Party primary. She also won the June 16 special election to fill the seat vacated by former Council member Jack Evans, who resigned in January following ethics inquiry. As the incumbent, Pinto faces three opponents: Randy Downs (I), Martín Miguel Fernandez (I), and Peter Bolton (SG).

Read Patch's Voter Guide for the 2020 Election in Washington, D.C.

Amid concerns about possible exposure to the new coronavirus, many District voters have already cast absentee ballots or voted at one of the 32 early voting centers around the city. Tuesday is the last day for voters to submit their mail-in ballots. They can either drop the ballots off at one of the 55 Mail-in-Ballot Drop Box Locations or send it via U.S. mail — ballots must be postmarked Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.

While much of the focus of the 2020 election coverage has been on the presidential race, there are a number of issues affecting D.C. residents that candidates running for office have been highlighting. Chief among these have been police reform, the protests for racial justice, the housing crisis, and the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the District.

Return to Patch for tonight's local election results: Subscribe to free News Alerts.

When the President Trump signed the first CARES Act into law in March, he provided funding to help states respond to the pandemic. Unfortunately, the bill designated the District of Columbia as a territory and not state, which meant a $725 million shortfall in funding for the District. Mayor Muriel Bowser blasted the president and the GOP-controlled Senate at the time for this decision.

In the D.C. Delegate race, Norton sees securing a more equitable arrangement for the District in coronavirus funding as the most pressing issue facing the District at this time. She supported a $2.2 billion compromise bill passed by the House on Oct. 2, which provides equal funding for D.C. in all categories.

In the matter of "defunding" the police, Norton said a better slogan would be "Reform the Police."
"Violent crime is a major issue in D.C.," she said. "We need to focus police on crimes and delegate the many other issues they are called to attend to others."

For Musa, the most pressing issue is to create more jobs for District residents. If elected, he would propose unions fight for a government-funded program of public works projects, to build housing and hospitals, repair roads, and create transportation options.

"The Socialist Workers Party campaign proposes workers organize a union in every work place to defend attacks on our working conditions and wages," Musa said. "The unions need to organize a labor party to organize a class break from the bosses parties — the Democratic and Republican."
Musa said the police "serve and protect" the interests and profits of the rich, so they would not be "defunded."

"Working people in our millions need to replace the capitalist system with a workers and farmers government that will function in the interests of the great majority of working people," he said.

If Hynes were elected, he would focus one restoring individual rights, which is what he sees as the single most pressing issue facing D.C.

"I intend to restore our individual rights by supporting ending the failed war on drugs, fighting laws that have lead to the over-incarceration of our population, and making sure that police are held accountable for their actions," he said.

Like Norton, Hynes supports reforming police methods in order to protect individual rights.
"I will fight to end qualified immunity, no-knock raids, and the militarization of police," he said. "These are infringements on our civil liberties that have only lead to the deaths of thousands of innocent people."

Krucoff promises to bring a better way of being to Congress, if he were elected.

"The non-voting Delegate position is the ideal platform from which to espouse reform, provided that the person in that office is neither a Democrat nor a Republican," he said.

Although Krucoff participated in the Black Lives Matter protests in the District, he does not favor defunding the police. However, he does support "Defunding the thought police."

"The police reform bill in Congress was stopped Democrats in the Senate," Krucoff said. "They filibustered it 45-55 and it did not go to conference. The Democrats cannot speak to this issue at all as result. An Independent leader can."

In the Ward 2 D.C. Council race, Pinto sees two big issues facing the District: the housing crisis and the financial impacts of COVID-19.

"Our city has been facing a housing crisis for the last decade, and our local leaders have largely failed to prevent long-time D.C. residents, many of whom are families of color, from being pushed out," she said. "D.C. has experienced the highest intensity of gentrification of any city in the country and has the highest per capita rate of homelessness. This is shameful. We have to do better."

In addition, more and more Washingtonians are struggling to pay rent and mortgages due to the impact of COVID-19.

"We have to get cash assistance into the hands of renters as soon as possible to empower them to pay their rent and stay in their homes," she said. "On the Council, I have been fighting for rent control and support to all tenants struggling to pay the rent. At the OAG [Office of the Attorney General], I saw people were oftentimes victims of predatory landlords. It is especially important now that we have stronger protections for tenants and legal representation for those who are mistreated."

Fernandez also sees the housing crisis as the biggest issue facing District right now.

"I intend to enact systemic changes like expanding and emboldening rent control, boosting funding for the Housing Production Trust Fund to preserve and generate more affordable housing stock, and leveraging DOPA (District Opportunity to Purchase Act) to acquire housing stock," he said.

"In the more immediate term, I support expanding rental assistance programs, extending the moratorium on evictions for at least a year after the pandemic, freezing rent increases for two years after the public health emergency ends, and cancelling rent for tenants and mortgages for small owners who are experiencing severe and extended loss of income — with relief instead targeting landlords and lenders."

Downs sees the lack of affordable house as being the most pressing issue facing Ward 2 and the District. The financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are only making the situation worse.

"I will support investments in the Housing Production Trust Fund, the Preservation Trust Fund, and public housing, so that affordable housing is built and maintained in Ward 2 and District-wide," he said. "I will help individuals and families pay rent by supporting the Local Rent Supplement Program and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. I will continue my long-standing work to fight for investments in LGBTQ senior and affordable housing. I will also review property taxes, as I know these sometimes can create affordability barriers, especially for some long standing residents and seniors. I will also look at how we are using our space in Ward 2, and how we can better use it to ensure affordable housing. For example, we have extensive office space that may be appropriate to convert to housing. This would expand our housing stock and create more affordability."

Regarding the housing crisis, Bolton supports a moratorium on evictions, but the central part of his platform is defunding the police.

"I also support a law to encourage the police to use non-lethal forms of suspect incapacitation and firearms only as a final last resort," he said.

Patch invited candidates in select races to fill out a candidate questionnaire:

D.C. Council - Ward 2

• Meet The Candidate: Peter Bolton For DC Council In Ward 2

• Meet The Candidate: Randy Downs For DC Council In Ward 2

• Meet The Candidate: Martín Miguel Fernández For DC Council

• Meet The Candidate: Brooke Pinto For DC Council In Ward 2

House of Representatives - D.C. Delegate

• Meet Eleanor Holmes Norton, Candidate For DC Delegate To Congress

• Meet Patrick Hynes, Candidate For DC Delegate To Congress

• Meet David Krucoff, Candidate For DC Delegate To Congress

• Meet The Candidate: Omari Musa For Delegate To Congress

House of Representatives - Shadow Seat

• Meet Sohaer Rizvi Syed, Candidate For House of Representatives

State Board of Education - At-Large

• Meet The Candidate: Chris Martin For State Board Of Education

• Meet The Candidate: Jacque Patterson For State Board Of Education

State Board of Education - Ward 2

• Meet The Candidate: Sarah Mehrotra For State Board Of Education

State Board of Education - Ward 7

• Meet The Candidate: Charles Boston For State Board Of Education

• Meet Eboni-Rose Thompson, Candidate For State Board Of Education

State Board of Education - Ward 8

• Meet LaJoy Johnson-Law, Candidate For State Board Of Education

Find more information in the D.C. Voter's Guide.

This article originally appeared on the Washington DC Patch