District lawmakers who are up for re-election in November and choose to seek the seat of former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown can simultaneously run for two offices, the city’s elections board ruled Monday.
The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics declared that Brown’s seat was vacant and scheduled a special election for Nov. 6 — the same day as the general election.
But the board ruled the vote for council chairman will be a separate election from the day’s other races, which could allow aspirants for the legislative body’s top job to seek two posts on the same day.
| Mr. Chairman? |
| At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson said Monday that he has the votes to become the interim chairman of the D.C. Council. “I believe the council will select me,” Mendelson said. At-large Councilman Vincent Orange, Mendelson’s rival for the post, said he was continuing to lobby members for support. |
At-large Councilman Vincent Orange, who is considering a run in the special election and is already attempting to keep his existing seat, said the board’s ruling could lead to voter confusion, but he declined to say whether he’d be willing to simultaneously seek two offices.
“The better idea is not to confuse the voters of the District of Columbia, so it’d be good to have the special election on one day and the general election on another day,” Orange told The Washington Examiner.
Other lawmakers whose seats are on the ballot this fall have indicated they will not seek the chairmanship.
At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson, who has already said he will run for chairman but is not up for re-election until 2014, said he was opposed to allowing candidates to seek two offices at the same time.
“I think what makes common sense is what ought to prevail here, which is that Nov. 6 is one election,” Mendelson said. “Even though technically there is a special election and a general election and they’re happening on the same day, it’s one election.”
Both Mendelson and Orange are vying to seize the council’s gavel through the November election. Mendelson is favored in the vote of lawmakers, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
Although city officials said staging the special election on the same day that voters go to the polls in other races will save up to $1 million, a government watchdog slammed the decision.
“I read the law, and it says you can only run for one elective office in an election,” said Dorothy Brizill, the executive director of DCWatch. “Nov. 6 is an election.”
Brown’s seat became available last week when he resigned after authorities charged him with bank fraud. He pleaded guilty Friday.
