About last night

As far as the DC election goes, I don't know what to say. Turnout was lower than expected. Maybe people felt the choices weren't all that different. Maybe there was just too much campaigning and all--the campaign season has been long, some candidates have been campaigning since early last year. Just too much noise. Plus, since so many people who live in DC come from elsewhere, many aren't too interested, yet or ever, in the nitty gritty of local civic affairs.

In DC, the telling figure seems to be, at least in this election, the endorsement of the Washington Post. All the candidates endorsed by the Post, including at large Councilmember Philip Mendelson, who was--no question--outcampaigned and outspent by his opponent, A. Scott Bolden, won. (In Ward races where there were multiple candidates, the races with the most candidates brought out more voters. This perfectly tracked the number of candidates in each Ward, with Ward 5 having the most candidates and the most voters, followed by Wards 3, 6, and 1.)

The Post endorsement seems to matter less in races outside of Washington, DC. Although this could merely be a matter of incumbency. The Post endorsed Rushern Baker for PG County Executive. He appears to have lost, although the results are close. Same thing with Donna Edwards vs. Albert Wynn in one of the races for the House of Representatives.

It's hard to say what's up in other races, since there have been irregularities in managing voting logistics in Montgomery County and Baltimore. This has slowed the return of election results.

Index Keywords: civic-engagement