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Washington Post
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Washington, DC, city council special election
WASHINGTON — Voters in southeast Washington, D.C., will fill a vacant city council seat Tuesday in a special election to replace former Councilmember Trayon White, who was expelled from office in February following his 2024 arrest in a federal corruption probe . Among the candidates to replace White on the council is White himself. The election will again give residents of the district's 8th Ward representation on the council as the city faces a $1 billion budget shortfall stemming from the Trump administration's massive cuts to the federal workforce, a separate billion-dollar budget fight with congressional Republicans and a possible clash between the Democratic mayor and the council over a proposed $4 billion stadium deal with the Washington Commanders football team . Besides White, the other candidates in the running are Salim Adofo, Mike Austin and Sheila Bunn. Adofo is chair of a local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, or ANC. Austin is an attorney and a former ANC chair. Bunn was a top aide to former mayor and longtime Councilmember Vincent Gray as well as to the district's non-voting delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton. All four candidates are Democrats. There are no Republicans on the ballot. Despite his ongoing legal troubles, White was reelected in 2024 with 76% of the vote over his Republican opponent. Adofo challenged White in the primary that year but placed second with 28% of the vote, behind White's 51%. Austin challenged White in the 2020 primary, but White prevailed with 58% to Austin's 28%. Ward 8, like the city itself, is heavily Democratic. Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris carried the ward with 91% of the vote in the 2024 presidential race against Republican Donald Trump. The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it's determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why. In District of Columbia elections, recounts are automatic in city council races if the margin is less than 1% of the total vote. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome. Here's a look at what to expect on Tuesday: Washington's city council special election will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET. The AP will provide vote results and declare a winner in the Ward 8 city council seat. Any voter registered in Ward 8 may participate in the special election. As of June 30, there were nearly 56,000 registered voters in Ward 8. Of those, 76% were Democrats, 4% were Republicans and about 18% were not registered with any party. The remainder were registered with minor parties. Turnout for special elections in the district tends to be significantly lower than that of regularly scheduled general elections. An April 2015 special election for a Ward 8 city council seat had turnout at 14% of registered voters. By comparison, turnout for the same Ward 8 seat was 24% of registered voters for the 2022 general election and 52% in 2024. A June 2020 special election for a Ward 2 city council seat also saw a steep drop-off in voter turnout compared with regularly scheduled elections. Turnout in that contest was 23% of registered voters, compared with 42% in the 2022 general election and 75% in the 2024 presidential election. Ballots are mailed to all registered voters in Ward 8, so a relatively large share of voters typically do not vote at the polls on Election Day. In higher-profile elections, like the 2022 mayoral race and the 2024 presidential race, more than 70% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day. As of Wednesday, a total of 2,681 Ward 8 ballots had already been cast. That number may increase considerably with early in-person voting beginning on Friday. In the 2024 presidential election, the AP first reported Ward 8 results at 10:14 p.m. ET, or more than two hours after polls closed. That initial report included about 85% of the total vote. The last update of the night was later that hour at 10:57 p.m. ET with about 88% of the total votes counted. Results for the Ward 8 city council race that year were first reported at 10:25 p.m. ET. The last update of the night was at 11:12 p.m. ET with about 81% of total votes counted.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
St. Louis Democrats dispute election board on ballot labels
ST. LOUIS – When Cara Spencer was sworn in as the city's new mayor, she vacated her seat on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. The city will hold a special election on Tuesday, July 1, to succeed Spencer as 8th Ward alderman. Five people have filed to represent Ward 8 on the board, but the ballot itself has caused some consternation for city Democrats, who are suing the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners. The candidates will appear on the ballot sans party affiliation. But the St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee says that is unfair to its chosen candidate and wants a judge to force the election board to include party affiliations on the ballots. Last month, the DCC selected Shedrick Kelley as the official Democratic candidate. Although Republicans did not nominate a candidate for the race, Kelley is not without challengers. The city Libertarians nominated Cameron McCarty. Radar-indicated: Tornado likely rolled through Chesterfield The other three candidates—Jami Cox Antwi, Jim Dallas, and Alecia Hoyt—are registered Democrats but are running as independents after securing the signatures of 10% of registered voters in Ward 8 who voted in the April 8 mayoral election. In the November 2020 general election, St. Louis voters, by more than a 2-to-1 margin, supported Proposition D, which made elections open and nonpartisan for offices like the mayor, comptroller, and aldermen, and changed the primary system to allow voters to choose more than one candidate, with the top two choices facing off in a general election. But according to the city charter, since there are no primaries allowed for special elections, the local committees of 'established political parties' get to select their nominees and thus act as a primary. The city Democrats allege that keeping party affiliations off the ballot prevents the party from 'exercising its associational rights to participate in the political process as an established political party by issuing endorsements of candidates running for office.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
18-04-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Waukegan's Earth Week activities start Saturday; ‘This gives people a chance to do their spring cleaning'
Collaboration between the city of Waukegan and the Waukegan Park District for a river and ravine cleanup on April 5 officially made this Earth Month locally, but the city's annual Earth Week activities begin on April 19. Started four years ago when community members and city officials joined forces to arrange a week of events, Earth Week has grown to include hundreds of volunteers picking up trash around the city from the lakefront to each of the nine wards. 'Trash accumulates over the winter,' Mayor Ann Taylor said. 'Once the snow melts, it becomes more obvious. This gives people a chance to do their spring cleaning. It's had a snowball effect. Lots of people are now getting involved to make the city better.' The city's fourth-annual Earth Week opens Saturday with a recycling event at the Waukegan Public Library and continues through April 26, when hundreds of people will be doing a variety of projects throughout Waukegan to help the environment. Along with the recycling event on Saturday and next weekend's events around the city at the Waukegan Municipal Beach, the Waukegan Harbor & Marina and other locations, each ward has a designated day where they can bring unwanted items to a Dumpster that will be set out in their neighborhood. Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, helped organize the first Earth Week when local accountant Marty Wozniak suggested more activities around the city on the same day he led the spring rendition of his quadrennial cleanup of the Amstutz Expressway. 'Our ultimate goal is that we don't have to do this because everyone will dispose of their trash and help the environment,' Florian said. 'For the foreseeable future, this is a very good thing, and we're going to keep at it. It's great to see how many people get involved.' Opening the week, the library's Off the Grid team is conducting a free recycling event for paper and electronic waste between 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot behind the building near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Clayton Street. Christian Neighbors Church in Waukegan is organizing a volunteer effort bringing people from 14 churches and three other not-for-profit organizations together to fan out through the city collecting discarded items. 'It's a chance for people from different walks of life and different churches and other organizations to get to know each other and make the community better working together,' the Rev. Luke McFadden, the church's pastor, said. 'It's really overwhelming to see this happen.' McFadden said more than 250 people volunteered for the effort last year, and he expects more on April 26. They will gather at 8:30 a.m. in the church parking lot at 222 North County St., start going into the neighborhoods at 9 a.m. and finish with a lunch at 11:30 a.m. Lisa May, the city's lakefront coordinator, said she is expecting more than 100 volunteers from the American Place Casino and USA Bluebook for a beach cleanup from 10 a.m. to noon on April 26. May said a lot of trash accumulates at the beach over the winter. 'The wind blows a lot of trash into the dunes and tall grasses,' she said. 'It takes a lot of work to get the beach ready for summer, and my staff of Beach Rangers do not start until Memorial Day weekend.' Julie Ivic, American Place's director of communications and advertising, said this is the casino's second year of sending people to the beach and dunes. It is one of several ways the company helps in the community. Just south of the beach, between 50 and 150 volunteers — including a contingent from the Waukegan Police Department — will gather at the harbor for a cleanup. Robert Kutzler, the harbor's director of marketing and special events, said the effort has taken place for more than 25 years. 'We give them gloves, a picker and a garbage bag,' Kutzler said. 'When the bag gets full, they lay it down and the police pick it up. It helps keep the place clean, and it is good for the environment. Shelby McDonald, the Park District's director of marketing and community relations, said the organization also has Earth Month events scheduled throughout April. There are a variety of activities, including one where children in the Before and After School Experience get a tree to take home and plant. 'They are learning and doing something to reduce the carbon footprint,' McDonald said. Throughout the week, the Waukegan Public Works Department will take Dumpsters to locations throughout the city for people to discard trash. City workers will retrieve them to dispose of the items. Dumpsters will be in their location from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dumpsters will be at 8th and Adams streets in the First Ward, and at the intersection of Dugdale Road and Benny Avenue in the Second Ward on Monday. On Tuesday, they will be at 100 North Lewis Avenue in the Third Ward, and in the Fourth Ward between Butrick and Washington streets. On Wednesday, there will be a Dumpster near the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Delaware Street in the Fifth Ward, as well as Hickory and Keith streets in the Sixth Ward. Dumpsters move to 1815 North Sheridan Road in the Seventh Ward, and 2255 West Yorkhouse Road in the Eighth Ward on Thursday. A Dumpster will be in the Ninth Ward at 2650 Belvidere Road on Friday. People cannot bring yard waste, liquids, tree trunks, concrete, brick, stone, rocks, hazardous waste, flammable materials, carpets, small engines, paint, stain or railroad ties to the Dumpsters, according to information on the city's website.
