Sekou Biddle was selected by District Democrats late Thursday night to fill the at-large D.C. Council seat vacated by Kwame Brown when he won the chairman’s seat in November.
The Ward 4 Board of Education committee representative won in the third round of balloting by the D.C. Democratic State Committee, beating out former Councilman Vince Orange, 40-31.
The at-large member appointed by the state committee will hold the seat until April, when a special election will allow the city’s voters to determine a permanent replacement.
Biddle pitched himself using rhetoric similar to that of Mayor Vince Gray as he talked about uniting the city’s east and west sides by improving education and public safety.
Orange described himself as the insider who knows how to get the job done. He noted the tough battle he fought with Brown for the chairman’s seat last summer, and said he could put it aside to work with Brown on the council.
