Follow WTOP鈥檚 team coverage of the D.C. primary and Election 2026 online, on air at 103.5 FM or on the WTOP 太子探花 app. See live results as they come in after polls close at 8 p.m.
Most races in the D.C. Council primaries appear to be heading for a dayslong vote counting process due to ranked choice voting, but two council incumbents won their primaries Tuesday night.
When the D.C. Board of Elections released its interim election results update just before midnight, Ward 5’s Zachary Parker was the first choice of 76.4% voters. In Ward 6, Charles Allen led with 74.4% of the vote. The Associated Press called the races early Wednesday.
Other early results were less definitive.
Special election for remainder of McDuffie’s term
Kenyan McDuffie had to vacate his at-large seat on the council to launch his campaign for mayor as a Democrat, since he was elected to the D.C. Council as an independent under rules requiring some nonmajority-party council members.
Doni Crawford was appointed in January to fill his seat until this election, and she ran against Jacque Patterson and Elissa Silverman to finish the term.
As of late Tuesday, Silverman was leading with 54.8% of the votes.
“Our goal was to hit above 50% so that we would not go 鈥� into ranked choice, so right now it is looking like that might happen, so that’s exciting,” Silverman told WTOP.听
However, only 59% of eligible ballots had been counted.
The D.C. Board of Elections said previously that the first-choice votes under ranked choice voting would be tabulated with in-person votes on and before election day, as well as mail-in ballots processed before June 16.
If elimination rounds are required, the board said it would begin the process once a majority of ballots have been received and processed. The estimated date for the next round of results is June 21 鈥� five days after the primary.
Depending on how many ballots continue to arrive by the June 26 mail-in deadline, the board is planning another release on June 24, and expects to reveal the final tabulation results on or after June 26.
Before her appointment, Crawford was the director for the D.C. Council鈥檚 Committee on Business and Economic Development. Patterson is the president of the D.C. State Board of Education, and Silverman, is a former at-large D.C. Council member.
Another election will be held in November to determine who will hold the seat for its next full term, which begins in 2027.
Ward 1 and full-term at-large Council seats
At-Large Council member Anita Bonds and Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau left their seats up for grabs when they announced they would not seek reelection.
A crowded field of nine Democratic candidates competed for Bonds’ at-large seat, including Kevin B. Chavous, Bonds’ committee and policy director, whom she endorsed.
But Oye Owolewa, D.C.’s U.S. shadow representative, led the field with 33.8% of the votes. He needed more than 50% of first-round votes to definitively win.
“It might take a few rounds, but I am confident that this lead听will hold and go over the 50-plus-one threshold,” Owolewa told WTOP’s Mike Murillo.
The field also included labor leader Dyana Forester, who’s currently serving as senior director of labor relations for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; Fred Hill, founder of the Hill Group and former chair of D.C.’s Board of Zoning Adjustment; Greg Jackson, president of the Rocket Foundation and adviser to the Community Justice Action Fund; Leniqua’dominique Jenkins, former advisory neighborhood commissioner, educator and council staffer; Candace Tiana Nelson, former chief of staff to Council member Janeese Lewis George; Dwight Davis, former educator, principal and minister; and Lisa Raymond, former president of the D.C. State Board of Education and former chief of staff for then-D. C. Attorney General Karl Racine.
Five Democratic candidates were in the running to succeed Nadeau in the Ward 1 race. Nadeau endorsed Rashida Brown, a social worker and 10-year ANC commissioner.
Aparna Raja, an organizer communications manager at Local Progress, led with 46.7% of the votes counted.
Also in the field were Jackie Reyes Yanes, former director of the Mayor鈥檚 Office on Latino Affairs and former director of the Mayor鈥檚 Office on Community Affairs; Terry Lynch, longtime executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations; and Miguel Trindade Deramo, organizer and chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B.
More potential for a DC Council shake-up
The winners of the Democratic primaries are all but guaranteed to win their Council seats in the November election, since nearly 75% of registered voters in the District are Democrats, .
The same goes for other D.C. races, and that means special elections are likely to fill the remainder of two more council terms.
At-Large Council member Robert White won the Democratic nomination in the race to become D.C.’s next congressional delegate.
And if Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George prevails in her campaign for mayor, a special election would be called to fill her seat.
Incumbents challenged in Wards 5 and 6
Ward 5 Council member Parker and Ward 6 Council member Allen both faced a pair of Democratic challengers.
In Ward 5, Parker faced Bernita Carmichael, a small-business owner, D.C. Democratic Party committeewoman and member of the Ward 5 Leadership Council, along with Bridget French, who works on clean energy policy.
Allen faced challenges from attorney Michael Murphy and Gloria Ann Nauden, interim CEO of Philanthropy DMV and leader of D.C. Community Development Consortium Institute.
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