Ward 2’s DC Council seat isn’t up for grabs this year. For every citywide race, the Democrat faces only nominal opposition. Independent incumbent at-large Council Member David Catania isn’t seriously challenged by the DC Statehood Greens’ nutty professor.
For most District general elections, this is the recipe for desultory turnout. Yet, a return trip to Dupont Circle on general election day yielded a surprisingly high turnout.
When we visited the neighborhood on primary eve, we found paid Fenty workers trying to shore up the mayor’s base. Precinct 15 turned out for Fenty: 78% to 21%
Outside neighboring precinct 14 – Dupont West’s polling place; Fenty primary win, 81% – word from campaign workers was that turnout had reached 675 by 5 pm. Official numbers from DCBOEE poll workers at precinct 15 yielded more higher-than-expected numbers. As of 6 pm: 655 optical scan voters, 169 touch screen voters. After 4 pm, the special ballot clerk was so overwhelmed with voters seeking to take advantage of Election Day registration, they halted the count at 49. The polliing official noted the line never let up. Those special ballots are being cast by the newer DC residents that were so smitten with Adrian Fenty.
Those are numbers approaching 2006 November turnout numbers, when Fenty fans wanted to drive home his historic primary win.
Look at the voters in picture of precinct 15’s after work rush. They are white, and look to be from the educated, affluent profile of the neighborhood’s Fenty fans.
The write-in effort on the mayor’s behalf was dismissed by some observers as a clutch of true-believing “bittereinders.” Vince Gray was expected to breeze past that rump.
But when you consider this curiously high turnout in Ward 2, mix in the likely historically very low turnout in Vince Gray’s base of Wards 7 and 8 – also not holding ward-level council contests this year – and the heated Vince Gray/Mary Cheh referendum in Fenty-fervid Ward 3 and Fenty write-ins might embarrass the presumptive mayor-in-waiting.
UPDATE: It’s after 8:30, when DCBOEE promises DC results will be available. Here’s their update: “Election Results not available.” Maybe it’s held up by counting write in votes?
