The national election grabs all the headlines, but the tightest contests in the District are between candidates for the elected office closest to residents: Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners.
Each Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) is a non-partisan body of elected officials that represent local community members.
The commissioners serve two-year terms without pay. Each commissioner represents a Single Member District (SMD) of approximately 2,000 residents. The ANCs’ main role in the District is to be their neighborhood’s official voice in advising the District government (and Federal agencies) on things that affect their neighborhoods, such as transportation, development and public safety.
Many of these races are conclusive, but a few candidates are separated by less than 20 votes. DC Board of Elections (DCBOE) will count mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 if they are received by Nov. 13, and they have until Nov. 24 to finalize results. So these are unofficial, still-changing counts!
Here is how the contests have played out as of Wednesday, Nov. 4 in Ward 7:
Get the story on Ward 8 races here
ANC 7B
ANC 7B represents neighborhoods south of Fort Dupont Park and the Anacostia River, and North of Southern Avenue SE and a line made by linking 25th Street to Naylor Road SE.
A tightly-contested race between representatives for ANC7B played out Tuesday. In 7B01, John F. Adams led by only 9 votes as of Wednesday morning, 342 to 333 for Chioma J. Iwuoha. UPDATE: this lead expanded to a lead of 457 to 420 for Adams by 9:24 a.m. Thursday morning.
Tiffany L. Brown (7B02) won conclusive re-election with more than 76 percent of the vote over challenger David Brooks II.
Cydne Smith Nash will represent 7B04, having won nearly 72 percent of the vote, and Donna Robinson has won 7B05 from incumbent Villareal Johnson with 408 votes to his 294 as of Wednesday morning. A three-way race in 7B06 ended with victory for Kelvin Brown, with nearly 62 percent of the vote over challenger Tony Dugger, at nearly 32 percent, and Andrew Carlyle Haynesworth, with nearly 6 percent. Incumbent D.L. Humphrey was re-elected as rep for 7B07.
119 folks wrote in a candidate for 7B03, but DCBOE has not yet announced a winner.
ANC 7C
ANC 7C represents residents living in the triangle north of East Capitol, west of the northeast District border with Maryland, and east of a meandering line roughly at 47th Street NE. Commissioners represent and live in neighborhoods including Deanwood, Burrville, Lincoln Heights and Grant Park.
ANC 7C will look very familiar next year, with a few new additions when the new session begins in 2021. Commissioners Patricia A. Malloy (7C01), Anthony Lorenzo Green (7C04), Mary L. Gaffney (7C05) and Antawan Holmes (7C07) were all re-elected. Green narrowly came out on top of challenger Patricia Stamper in 7C04, with a ten percent lead –71 votes– as of Wednesday morning. Holmes won a conclusive 78 percent of the vote in the race for 7C07; the other incumbents were unchallenged on the ballot.
In 7C02, Yolanda Fields came out on top in a three-way race between herself, Patricia Williams and Mandla Deskins, winning 44 percent of the vote. It’s a 61-vote margin over Williams, the next closest candidate. Vincent Van was selected to represent 7C03, taking the place of Catherine A. Woods.
ANC 7D
ANC 7D runs along Anacostia Park, and consists of representatives for the Kenilworth, Eastland Gardens, Mayfair, River Terrace neighborhoods, extending across the river into Kingman Park.
Four ANC 7D commissioners were re-elected without a challenger: Tamara Blair (7D01), Siraaj M. Hasan (7D02), Dorothy Douglas (7D03), and Rebecca J. Morris (7D06). In 7D04, Milton Hardy was elected without challenge to take the office previously occupied by Cinque E. Culber.
The race was in 7D05, where Stephanie Audain won nearly 47 percent of the vote in a contest against Kimory Kso Orendoff and James Goldfield, who each took around 25 percent.
ANC 7E
ANC 7E encompasses much of the Capitol View, Marshall Heights and Benning Heights neighborhoods, including a triangular-shaped group of communies east of Woodlawn Cemetary, south of East Capitol Street and the east edge of Fort Dupont and Fort Davis Parks along the District’s Southeast border with Maryland.
Dramatic races took place in ANC 7E, where incumbent Linda S. Green was unseated in 7E02 by challenger Tiera J. Fletcher, who received 414 votes to Green’s 341 by Wednesday morning. In 7E05, Victor L. Horton was also narrowly unseated by Sharon Jafari, who won 290 votes, or 53 percent, to Horton’s 238 votes.
Too close to call was the race for 7E04, formerly occupied by Takiyah Tate. Natasha Dupee leads with 328 votes, only 17 more than Keith Hasan-Towery. Lorraine Miller trails the two with 147. UPDATE: Thursday, 9:20 a.m.: Dupee has pulled ahead in the vote count, with a 30-vote lead over Hasan-Towery.
A three-way race to represent SMD 7E07, vacant in 2020, was won by Kimberly Martin, with nearly 55 percent of the vote. Meanwhile in 7E06, Delia Houseal was re-elected with 72 percent of the vote over Joel Savary’s 26 percent, and Veda Rasheed went unchallenged on the ballot in 7E01. 75 people wrote-in a candidate for 7E03, previously represented by Ebbon A. Allen; but the name of a winner has not yet been released by DCBOE.
ANC 7F
ANC 7F occupies a fish-shaped space, largely running north of Fort Dupont Drive and G Street, West of 42nd Street, South of Kenilworth Avenue and including an area over the Anacostia River occupied by the DC Jail.
Tyler M. Holcomb (7F01) won re-election with nearly a 23 percent lead over challenger Ashley R. Ruff. Terrance Hunter (7F02) was also re-elected, with a margin of more than 85 votes and 12 percent between himself and the next closest of two challengers. Brittany N. Hughes defeated challenger Karen Settles by a margin of 25 percent, or 150 votes, to be returned as representative for SMD 7F05.
Racquel Codling defeated incumbent Charlene Exum to represent 7F04, and Betty J. Diggs was unchallenged in her bid to represent 7F06, a role previously occupied by Carol E. Fletcher.
7F03, formerly represented by Sheila Carson Carr, received 65 write-in votes. Similarly, 11 people wrote in a candidate for 7F07, the SMD covering the DC Jail and Reservation 13. Even if these votes were all cast for a single candidate, they may not be a sufficient number to be counted according to District law. Write-ins have not been ratified or named, but a representative for 7F07 would draw tremendous attention.
Votes postmarked by Nov. 3 will be counted if received by Nov. 13. DCBOE has until Nov. 24 to finalize election results. You can see the updating results at electionresults.dcboe.org
