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Fenty unseats Jarvis as other council incumbents prevail

(Published September 25, 2000)

By KATHRYN SINZINGER

Staff Writer

Ward 4 Democrats will have a new standard bearer going into the Nov. 7 general election as Advisory Neighborhood Com-missioner Adrian Fenty unseated longtime incumbent Council-woman Charlene Jarvis in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary.

While political observers acknowledged before the polling that Jarvis appeared to be in trouble, most had expected a much closer race than the 13.5 percent margin Fenty won by.

The final unofficial vote from the D.C. Board of Elections showed Fenty with 8,136 votes, or 56.6 percent, to Jarvis’s 6,193 votes, or 43.1 percent.

The other three incumbent Democratic ward council members who faced primary opposition all easily won their party’s renomination.

In Ward 2, Councilman Jack Evans received 3,298 votes, or 66.3 percent, with his three opponents splitting up the rest of the votes. John Fanning received 892 votes, or 17.9 percent; Pete Ross got 720 votes, or 14.5 percent, and Ray Avrutis received 43 votes, or .9 percent.

In Ward 7, incumbent Kevin P. Chavous got a scare as Democratic opponent Robert B. Hunter racked up 1,845 votes, or 32.9 percent. But Chavous still won a clear majority in a field of five candidates, getting 2,996 votes, or 53.4 percent. Mary D. Jackson received 545 votes, or 9.7 percent; Dirand A. Ford received 128 votes, or 2.3 percent; and Gary R. Feenster got 58 votes, or 1 percent.

In Ward 8, incumbent Democrat Sandra Allen ran away with the race in a four-way contest. Allen received 2,326 votes, or 70.6 percent of all votes cast. Her closest opponent, D.C. Taxicab Commissioner Sandra Seegars, received 643 votes, or 19.5 percent. Dion Jordan got 202 votes, or 6.1 percent, and Winifred Freeman received 110 votes, or 3.3 percent.

The two at-large council incumbents who are seeking re-election -- Democrat Harold Brazil and Republican Carol Schwartz -- had no primary opposition for their party’s renomination.

Brazil received 28,869 courtesy votes and Schwartz mustered 1,466 courtesy votes on the GOP side.

All other candidates on the ballot were unopposed for their party’s nomination to seek office in the Nov. 7 general election.

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics on Sept. 22 counted absentee and special ballots that were cast for the primary, but the board did not yet certify the vote totals from the Sept. 12 election.

Write-in votes encouraged some individuals who were not on the primary ballot to file statements of candidacy to run in the Nov. 7 general election.

ANC Commissioner Johnnie Scott Rice decided to carry the Republican Party banner in the Nov. 7 election for Ward 7 city council representative.

Two other Republicans also decided to enter the general election races for "shadow" senator and "shadow" representative.

Democratic incumbent "sha-dow" Sen. Florence H. Pendle-ton will face opposition on the November ballot from Republican Janet Helms.

Republican John Shumake’s entrance into the "shadow" representative race pits four candidates against each other for the unpaid office in the November election. Shumake will face Democrat Ray Browne, D.C. Sattehood Green Party member Martin Thomas and Umoja Party member Kalonji Olusegun.

Overall only 39,258, or 13.5 percent, of the city’s 290,930 registered voters turned out to cast ballots in the Sept. 12 primary.

In the Democratic Party primary, the only one in which candidates ran with opposition, only 14.3 percent of registered party members showed up to vote. On the Republican side, 6.2 percent of the party faithful turned out to cast votes, even though their candidates were unopposed.The D.C. Statehood Green Party turned out 5.2 percent of its registered voters and the Umoja Party turned out 8.5 percent of its registered members.

Copyright © 2001 The Common Denominator