DC Council primary: Phil Mendelson, Brianne Nadeau, Zachary Parker win
But Phil Mendelson, who has been council chair for a decade, survived a challenge from attorney Erin Palmer, who ranks with his left, the AP focused. The result Mendelson, 69, puts on the longest-serving chair in the history of the council. Anita Bonds appears poised to retain her seat at a large council seat, leading the vote.
Still, DC appeared to buck the recent trend of cities such as New York and San Francisco, which has elected less-liberal Democrats amid concerns about crime and schools.
Gregory Keng Strasser, a 27-year-old theater director who voted Tuesday in Ward 1, said he took a note of the candidates’ contrasts on policing. In the council race, he opted for what he saw as Nadeau’s multidimensional approach to violence over challenger Salah Czapary’s law-and-order stance.
He spoke. “I want to live in an area that invests in community protections other than police.”
Voters also looked for candidates who addressed the high costs of living in the District, especially housing. Marie Cadelago, 37, said she thought about her Brookland neighbor who drives to Maryland in search of cheaper groceries.
“They’re a fixed income, but their homes need upkeep. As more and more people with higher income choose to live in the city, it’s really hard to afford that upkeep. … It makes it really tough for longtime residents who didn’t always live in a city that’s so expensive, “Cadelago said. “Zachary Parker has discussed a lot about aging in place. … They make the neighborhood rich and make it what we like about the neighborhood. “
In Ward 3, Matthew Frumin, a charter-school-skeptical education advocate, had emerged as the consensus choice among many liberals. Eric Goulet, who had run a campaign primarily focused on increasing the size of the police department and was supported by big spending on education reform advocates, was too close to call.
Charles Allen, who represents Ward 6, ran for unopposed reelection.
Recent elections before this year we have left candidates on the DC Council. Since then, the council greatly expanded the housing vouchers available for homeless residents; gave out money to child-care workers and undocumented immigrants; passed a ban on flavored tobacco; passed a controversial bill allowing children to obtain vaccines without parental permission; Muriel E. Bowser (D), who was rated to win her primary Tuesday night as well.
The council has often engaged in a push-and-pull with the more moderate Bowser, including the issue of parental leave for workers and over the council’s action to decriminalize jumping the fare gates on the Metro.
Mendelson, who has been a member of the council since 1999, boasted during his campaign of shepherding the council’s major legislation – from paying parental leave to the creation of a public campaign financing and an independent elected attorney general to years of balanced budgets that he shaped.
In the forthcoming term, the council faces a host of issues, including whether or not it would give every resident up to $ 100 per month in Metro funds.
New members will bring new ideas, too. Parker pitched creative plans during his campaign, such as helping Washington natives afford the cost of living in the city.
Parker, who came out as gay during his campaign for the council, would be the council’s first LGBT member since Jim Graham, who lost to Nadeau in 2014.