# 2024 Council of the District of Columbia election

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vte :
The 2024 Council of the District of Columbia election took on November 5, 2024, to elect members to six seats on the city council. The primary took place on June 4, 2024.

## Background

Muriel Bowser won election to a third term in the 2022 election becoming the first mayor to win a third term in the city's history. The District of Columbia Home Rule Act states that "not more than two of the at-large members shall be nominated by the same political party" which results in the Democratic Party being unable to run in all at-large districts. David Catania, a member of the city council from 1997 to 2015, was the last member of the Republican Party elected to the council, but changed his political affiliation to independent in 2004.
This will be the first election that will allow for non-citizens to vote for DC council members after a law enacted in early 2023. While non-citizens are explicitly forbidden from participating in federal elections such as for U.S. President and the U.S. House of Representatives, some municipalities allow them to vote in local elections. As of April 30, 2024, only 372 non-citizens were registered to vote, representing less than 0.1% of all registered voters in the District.

## Summary

| Position | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | Certified candidates ▌Democratic ▌Statehood–Green ▌Independent ▌Republican |
| Position | Member | Party | First elected | Status | Certified candidates ▌Democratic ▌Statehood–Green ▌Independent ▌Republican |
| At-Large | Christina Henderson | Independent | 2020 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Robert White ▌Y Christina Henderson ▌Darryl Moch ▌Rob Simmons |
| At-Large | Robert White | Democratic | 2016 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Robert White ▌Y Christina Henderson ▌Darryl Moch ▌Rob Simmons |
| Ward 2 | Brooke Pinto | Democratic | 2020 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Brooke Pinto |
| Ward 4 | Janeese Lewis George | Democratic | 2020 | Incumbent running. | ▌Y Janeese Lewis George |
| Ward 7 | Vincent C. Gray | Democratic | 2016 | Incumbent retiring. New councilor elected. Democratic hold. | ▌Y Wendell Felder ▌Noah Montgomery |
| Ward 8 | Trayon White | Democratic | 2016 | Incumbent running. | ▌Y Trayon White ▌Nate Derenge |

## At-large district

Democratic nominee and incumbent Robert White and Independent and former staffer to U.S. Senate and city council staffer Christina Henderson advanced in the general election over dozens of other candidates. Now both incumbents, the two are running for reelection.

### Democratic primary
#### Nominee

* Robert White, incumbent councilor

#### Eliminated in primary

* Rodney "Red" Grant, businessman, comedian, and Independent candidate for Mayor in 2022
2024 Council of the District of Columbia Democratic primary, At-large district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Robert White | 54,636 | 81.50 |
| | Democratic | Rodney Red Grant | 11,767 | 17.55 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 639 | 0.95 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 67,042 | 100.0 |

### Statehood Green primary

2024 Council of the District of Columbia Statehood Green primary, At-large district :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | DC Statehood Green | Darryl Moch | 319 | 80.35 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 78 | 19.65 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 397 | 100.0 |

### Independents
#### Declared

* Christina Henderson, incumbent councilor
* Patricia Eguino, ANC Commissioner for 6C06 and scientist
* Kevin Rapp, ANC Commissioner from 5E05 and businessman

## Ward 2

Incumbent Brooke Pinto won election in a June 2020 special contest, and subsequently in that year's general election to fill the seat of Jack Evans, who resigned amid a conflict of interest scandal.
Pinto, a 28-year old lawyer, came under scrutiny during the election season after finance reports showed her father, a venture capitalist from Connecticut, donated large sums of money to her campaign bank account. In addition, she did not participate in the city's Fair Elections program which enabled her to partially self-fund her campaign. Pinto had the most out-of-state donors out of any candidate in the race. Regardless, Pinto won the election and became the council's youngest member in its history. She announced her re-election bid in June.
Pinto chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.

### Candidates
#### Declared

* Brooke Pinto, incumbent councilor

#### Declined

* Jack Evans, former Ward 2 councilor
2024 Council of the District of Columbia Democratic primary, Ward 2 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Brooke Pinto | 5,845 | 92.72 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 459 | 7.28 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,304 | 100.0 |

## Ward 4

Janeese Lewis George, an attorney who had worked for then-Attorney General Karl Racine and the District of Columbia State Board of Education, won in the Democratic primary over moderate incumbent Brandon Todd in what was considered a major upset. A self-described Democratic socialist, George has drawn criticism for her support to defund the Metropolitan Police Department, the city's law enforcement division.

### Candidates
#### Declared

* Janeese Lewis George, incumbent councilor
* Paul Johnson, former ANC Commissioner from 4C07
* Lisa Gore, ANC Commissioner from 4G01 and candidate for At-Large in 2022
2024 Council of the District of Columbia Democratic primary, Ward 4 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Janeese Lewis George | 8,085 | 66.19 |
| | Democratic | Lisa Gore | 3,431 | 28.09 |
| | Democratic | Paul Johnson | 653 | 5.35 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 45 | 0.37 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 12,214 | 100.0 |

## Ward 7

Incumbent Vince Gray has long been a fixture of local politics, serving respectively as the city's mayor, council chair, and as Ward 7's councilor on separated terms. Gray only attends council meetings through video calls. Some of his constituents have expressed their concern and wish for Gray to step away gracefully from the political scene. In December 2023, Gray announced he would be stepping aside from council activities once his term concluded in January 2025.

### Candidates
#### Declared

* Ebony Payne, ANC Commissioner from 7D05
* Eboni-Rose Thompson, President of the District of Columbia State Board of Education
* Villareal "VJ" Johnson II, former ANC Commissioner and city council aide
* Kelvin Brown, Chair of ANC 7B, executive at Fannie Mae, and U.S. Army veteran
* Nate Fleming, former Shadow congressperson, staffer for Councilor Trayon White, and candidate for the At-large council seat in 2022
* Roscoe Grant Jr., former ANC Commissioner and union president
* Ebbon Allen, former ANC Commissioner for 7E03
* Veda Rasheed, former ANC Commissioner for 7E01 and attorney
* Denise Reed, former chief of staff to former councilor Kevin P. Chavous
* Wendell Felder, Chair of ANC7D and President of the Ward 7 Democrats
2024 Council of the District of Columbia Democratic primary, Ward 4 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Wendell Felder | 2,211 | 22.90 |
| | Democratic | Ebony Payne | 1,938 | 20.07 |
| | Democratic | Eboni-Rose Thompson | 1,869 | 19.36 |
| | Democratic | Veda Rasheed | 979 | 10.14 |
| | Democratic | Kelvin Brown | 966 | 10.01 |
| | Democratic | Nate Fleming | 842 | 8.72 |
| | Democratic | Roscoe Grant Jr. | 236 | 2.44 |
| | Democratic | Denise Reed | 211 | 2.19 |
| | Democratic | Vallareal VJ Johnson II | 208 | 2.15 |
| | Democratic | Ebbon A. Allen | 163 | 1.69 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 32 | 0.33 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 9,655 | 100.0 |

### Republican primary

No Republican candidate made the primary ballot for Ward 7. Noah Montgomery filed as a write-in candidate and won the nomination with a single vote.

## Ward 8

Incumbent Trayon White charted a campaign for mayor in 2022, though finished third in the primary with just about 9% of the primary vote. White even lost his own constituency, Ward 8, to incumbent Muriel Bowser.
White announced his reelection bid during a radio interview with WAMU in September 2023. He won his primary in June 2024, but was arrested on federal bribery charges in August.

### Candidates
#### Declared

* Trayon White, incumbent councilor
* Markus Batchelor, former vice president of the District of Columbia State Board of Education
* Salim Adofo, Chair of ANC 8C
* Rahman Branch, former executive director of the D.C. Office on African American Affairs and principal of Ballou High School
* Kevin Cannaday, program development director at the Urban Institute
2024 Council of the District of Columbia Democratic primary, Ward 8 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Trayon White | 3,115 | 52.98 |
| | Democratic | Salim Adofo | 1,600 | 27.21 |
| | Democratic | Rahman Branch | 1,129 | 19.20 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 36 | 0.61 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,880 | 100.0 |

### Republican primary

2024 Council of the District of Columbia Republican primary, Ward 8 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Nate Derenge | 98 | 80.99 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 23 | 19.01 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 121 | 100.0 |