The DC Primary is Over … No Big Surprises
From the Washington Post
The DC Primary is over and the results are in. Though I’m sure there are a few disappointed voters who didn’t get to see their candidate win, overall I think the results are pretty much what was expected.
In the Democratic race for DC Council, Ward 1, I was a little surprised by the numbers. Not unexpectedly, Graham won … yet with only 57% of the vote. More surprising to me was the strong showings of both Jeff Smith and Bryan Weaver, each taking 21% of the vote.
Weaver’s underdog status and no-frills campaign had some folks I’d talked to guessing he’d get around 8% of the vote. According to the Post, Weaver trailed Smith by only 54 votes, putting him in a very respectable third place.
Voters at Polling Precinct #38 now vote at Cesar Chavez Charter School. The redirect at the old Bruce-Monroe site helped guide unaware voters
Park View voters residing in Precinct 38 had a change this time around. In the past their polling place was in the Bruce-Monroe school. With the school gone and a park in its place, their voting place is now at the Cesar Chavez Prep Charter Middle School. Fortunately, signage was posted to assist voters that may not have been aware of the change.
The DCBOEE Web site still had Bruce-Monroe listed as a polling place
One reader sent in an example of the move notice (seen above), bemused that the graphic shows a person moving, rather than razing, the building.
The notices were clearly needed. Upon examining the DC Board of Elections and Ethics Web site for the list of polling places, their interactive map to assist voters find polling places still clearly showed Bruce-Monroe as the voting location.
… and on a final note, I thought it was nice that Councilmember Graham chose the Park View Rec Center as the site to visit while closing out the polls. I know that all the candidates visited all the polling places throughout the day and that seeing a politician while voting is not uncommon. Yet, I still think there is added significance to where a candidate votes, opens, and closes during a campaign.
September 15, 2010 at 9:54 am
To me the strong showing by Weaver and Smith indicates that not everyone has been so impressed by Graham’s performance. I hope that Graham takes this to heart moving forward and reaches out to those who did not vote for him to see where needs are not being met.
September 22, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Forty-two percent of the people DID NOT vote for Jim Graham. He hasn’t won by this small of a margin since he beat Frank Smith.
And btw, just because someone doesn’t plaster their face on the sides of buildings and on bus stops doesn’t make it a “no frills” campaign (not necessarily a Weaver supporter, just creeped out by the Jeff Smith show).