Until voters elected Muriel Bowser and Yvette Alexander to the D.C. Council on Tuesday, female representation on the 13-member body appeared to be in danger.
Following November’s general election, only two women, Carol Schwartz, R-at large, and freshman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, remained until the special election. That figure was the lowest in a decade. As recently as 2000, six women, including Schwartz and former Council Chair Linda Cropp, served on the body.
Schwartz was one of seven women — making up a majority — to serve in the late 1980s.
“I found it very sad to have only two [female members] in 2007,” Schwartz said. “I am especially pleased to have doubled our numbers.”
Advisory neighborhood commissioners echoed Brown’s sentiments Wednesday, saying they were optimistic about Tuesday’s election but adding that they pretty much expect both women to pick up where Mayor Adrian Fenty and Council Chair Vincent Gray left off. Bowser and Alexander won Ward 4 and Ward 7, respectively.
Ward 4 ANC chairman Ronald Bland said he sees a “changing in the guards” in Fenty’s leadership, and he thinks Bowser will continue that trend. Bland said he’s seen more new families moving to the ward, replacing an aging population.
“There’s a different generation. … There’s a quest for new families,” Bland said. “If the guard is changing, that’s good.”
Charlene Exum, an ANC in Ward 7’s Fort Dupont, said she wants Alexander to pick up where Gray left off. Safety, education and the ability to meet residents’ most basic needs still need improving, she said. Gray endorsed Alexander, who won with 34 percent of the vote in a field of 16 others.
“I want to see things in the neighborhood that people need, like grocery stores,” Exum said. “We have gas stations where people get murdered. There’s loitering. Shut them down.”
