D.C. residents backed incumbents up and down the ticket in the midterm elections.
Incumbents are on track to win all nine citywide races on the D.C. ballot this year, according to The Washington Post. Locally, four incumbents will keep their spots on the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, while three newcomers won uncontested races.
Mayor
Mayor Muriel Bowser was re-elected with about 80 percent of the vote and will serve as D.C. mayor for another four years. The win makes Bowser the first mayor to win a re-election bid in more than 15 years – former Mayor Anthony Williams beat out his opponent as an incumbent in 2002.
Bowser was up against Ann Wilcox, an independent who received about 10 percent of the vote; Dustin Canter, an independent who received about 7 percent of the vote; and Martin Moulton, a libertarian who received about 3 percent of the vote.
U.S. Senate
Michael Brown, who has served as D.C.’s shadow senator since 2007, will keep his seat after receiving about 85 percent of the vote. Brown was challenged by Eleanor Ory, an independent who received about 15 percent of the vote.
Brown will continue serving as the District’s nonvoting representative in the Senate, where he has lobbied for D.C. to become the 51st state alongside Paul Strauss for more than 10 years.
U.S. House of Representatives
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., secured about 88 percent of the vote to retain her post as D.C.’s nonvoting member in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Holmes Norton was first elected in 1990 and will now serve her 15th term. As delegate, Holmes Norton can vote in committees and offer amendments but cannot vote.
D.C. Council
A contentious race for two open at-large seats on the D.C. Council culminated in wins for incumbents Elissa Silverman, I-at-Large, and Anita Bonds, D-at-Large.
The race gained widespread attention when Mayor Muriel Bowser endorsed Silverman’s challenger, Dionne Reeder, in September, saying the incumbent was not “collaborative.”
But students involved in local politics backed Silverman, calling her a “champion” for students.
Incumbent Phil Mendelson was re-elected to his position as the Council’s chairman. Mendelson has served as a Council member for nearly 20 years and was elected as chairman in 2012.
With about 50 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday night, four incumbents also look like they will hold onto their spots. Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie both garnered about 80 percent of the vote. Fellow incumbents Councilmember Mary Cheh, who represents Ward 3, and Councilmember Charles Allen, who represents Ward 6, received about 75 percent and 90 percent of the vote, respectively.
Advisory Neighborhood Commission
Three newcomers who ran unopposed for seats on the Foggy Bottom and West End Neighborhood Advisory Commission were elected Tuesday, according to results from the D.C. Board of Elections.
Nicole Goldin, an adjunct professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs, took seat 2A02, which was left vacant after former Commissioner Rebecca Coder’s death in May. Golden is now one of two West End representatives and will represent the area north of Pennsylvania Avenue and L Street.
Jeri Epstein, 72, won seat 2A06 and will represent the neighborhood off Washington Circle north of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Trupti Patel, a bartender at a restaurant on M Street, will represent the area between I and 24th streets and Pennsylvania Avenue in seat 2A03.
In the single contested race, entrepreneur Elena Son failed to unseat Chairman William Kennedy Smith, who has served the commission since 2015. Incumbent commissioners Patrick Kennedy, Philip Schrefer and Detrick Campbell also held onto their seats.
