At least two students landed seats on the neighborhood’s top governing group Tuesday, with two more still awaiting their results.
Juniors Patrick Kennedy and Jackson Carnes won seats on the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, a group that operates as a liaison between local residents and city agencies.
Kennedy ousted 10-year incumbent David Lehrman, a 66-year-old longtime Foggy Bottom resident. Out of 136 votes cast for the district, 96 went to Kennedy and 38 to Lehrman, with two write-in votes cast. Carnes ran unopposed and earned 90 votes.
“It’s been very gratifying to have won. It’s been an amazing experience all throughout,” Kennedy said, adding that he appreciated support from across the district.
Carnes, who campaigned alongside Kennedy on Election Day, said he is “very excited” for the next two years and that he was glad to see the voter turnout Tuesday.
Two other students – freshman Jevin Hodge and sophomore Peter Sacco – ran as write-in candidates. Sacco’s sought-after district tallied 22 votes. Hodge ran against an incumbent commissioner who also ran as a write-in candidate. The district, which includes the Mount Vernon Campus, counted 168 votes.
The Board of Elections does not release the winners of write-in campaigns until 10 days following the election.
Out of the city’s 40 Advisory Neighborhood Commission’s, each is divided into about eight to 10 single member districts with an elected representative. The positions are typically held by working adults.
Five other students around the city also ran for positions on their respective commissions. Georgetown University student Peter Prindiville and American University student Joe Wisniewski both won their districts, while AU student Nicole Goines lost her election.
Georgetown’s Craig Cassey and American’s Rory Slatko also both ran write-in campaigns.
The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission will hold at least two students and two alumni out of its eight seats after the group’s transition in January. If Sacco is elected, he would become the group’s third student.
Lehrman went into surgery Wednesday morning for back complications and did not return a request for comment Tuesday.
