Brooke Pinto won the Democratic nomination for the D.C Council Ward 2 seat Tuesday evening after running unopposed in D.C’s Democratic primary elections.
Pinto, who has been in office since winning a special election in 2020, secured 92.7 percent of the 6,304 votes cast as of Wednesday morning. If elected in November’s general election, she will represent Ward 2 on the Council, which encompasses Foggy Bottom.
During her term, Pinto chaired the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, which targeted goals like addressing crime and violence, improving public safety responses and promoting a “well-run” justice system.
In March, she sponsored legislation that enacted harsher punishments for violent crimes and the creation of drug-free zones after a historic crime spike. While the legislation passed unanimously, it drew backlash from civil rights groups like the ACLU and the Washington Interfaith Network due to concerns that it violated privacy rights and focused on punishment rather than public safety.
In other local council races, incumbent Council member Robert C. White Jr. defeated comedian Rodney “Red” Grant to win the Democratic at-large nomination. He will advance to the general election in November where he is likely to face a crowd of independent candidates.
Voters also nominated Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton for her 18th term as the non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Norton will be tied for the oldest member of the House with Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) when she turns 87 this month. She defeated Kelly Mikel Williams in the race, a former commissioner in the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in Congress Heights.
President Joe Biden won the presidential nomination for D.C by 87.2 percent as of Wednesday morning. Biden has already secured the Democratic nomination and will face Donald Trump in the general election in November.
Voters narrowly nominated Ankit Jain, a voting rights attorney from Ward 2, for shadow U.S. senator over consultant Eugene Kinlow. Incumbent Oye Owolewa defeated Linda Gray, a local educator, for shadow U.S. representative. The positions of shadow U.S. senators and U.S. representatives are held by officials from areas of the U.S. that lack a congressional vote. The shadow congresspersons lack voting and floor privileges and strictly focus their work on advocacy.
