Fenty Wins Precincts 5 and 6 in Ward 2

Update 09/15/10 7:52 a.m.: In the late late evening or very early morning, however you look at it, the fate of the D.C. mayoral primary was decided. At 2:30 a.m. when this editor decided enough was enough, Vincent Gray led Mayor Adrian Fenty by 8,000 votes. Wednesday morning, the Board of Elections and Ethics website remains unchanged with several precincts in several wards still not represented online.

Based on figures posted to polling place doors shortly after voting ended, in precincts 5 and 6 in Georgetown, Fenty won over opponent Gray by upwards of 80 percent of votes cast. Then Gray went on to wallop Fenty with some 56 percent of reported votes cast. Similarly, though not so starkly, Georgetown voted for Orange for Council Chair with 347 votes to Brown's 255 votes. Georgetown's precincts went much the way of Ward 2. City-wide though, with approximately 15 precincts still unaccounted for, Kwame Brown won with nearly 55 percent of votes.

Sorry Ward 2, maybe next time.

Updated 9:36 p.m. All results for Precinct 5 are now in, with the exception of 70 to 80 provisional ballots. Fenty takes Gray handily with 667 votes out of 835 total votes cast.

Fenty: 667,

Gray:  259.

In the race for District Council Chair, Vincent Orange wins it with 347 votes to Kwame Brown's 255.

In the race for the At Large Council seat, Phil Mendelson takes the precinct with 521 votes to Michael Brown's 109 votes.

Update 9:03 p.m.: All votes for Precinct 6, except approximately 75 provisional ballots, are counted, totaling 692 votes. Fenty won the precinct with 558 votes.

Fenty: 558

Gray: 82

In the race for District Council Chair, Vincent Orange received 275 votes to Kwame Brown's 228.

For Councilmember at Large, Phil Mendelson received 443 votes to Michael Brown's 79.

Update 8:34 p.m.: Paper ballots are posted for Precinct 6, which has gone for Fenty resoundingly. Electronic votes are still being tallied.

Total Paper Ballots Cast: 536

Democrat: 501

Republican: 34

State Green Party: 1

Of the 501 Democrat Paper Ballots Cast:

Fenty: 429

Gray:68

Alexander: 2

Update 8:20 p.m.: Polls closed at 8 p.m. as scheduled despite a request by the Gray campaigns that they remain hours for an extra two hours. Gray petitioned D.C. Superior Court for an extension because of several precincts that opened "several hours," according to his court filing. 

As of 6 p.m. the 6th Precinct recorded 546 votes and the 5th Precinct approximately 650, including 50 provisional ballots. Final precinct results should be posted in the next 20 minutes.

Update 4:07 p.m.: Both Georgetown precincts are reporting relatively low turnout. As of 2 p.m. Precinct 6 at the Duke Ellington School was reporting 358 voters. Precinct 5 at Christ Church reported 591 voters, including special (provisional)  ballots as of 3:30 p.m.

Paul Albers an election official for Precinct 5 said that four years ago the site so approximately 800 voters by the end of the day. Initially Albers said he did not think the turn out this year would be as high, but second guessed himself when he checked the numbers, saying maybe it would. For a non-presidential election year, Albers said turn out was average.

The once crowded Ellington location had far fewer volunteers on-hand around 3 p.m. Perhaps it was the low turn out or perhaps Georgetown voters were not being swayed by pamphlets and buttons. One voter walked out of Precinct 6 telling a neighbor in a Gray shirt, "all you need to know about this election is that the Teachers' Union and Barry support Gray." He walked away presumably to a home with a Fenty sign on the front lawn.

At Christ Church, two women walked home from voting, wearing Fenty stickers and walking their dogs. Did the dogs vote for Fenty too? "Wish they could have" answered one woman.

Posted 9:09 a.m.

At 6:35 a.m., I arrived at the 5th Precinct polling location at Christ Church. Gray signs lined the street and two campaign volunteers waited across the street from the voting entrance, coffee in-hand. The Fenty team showed up around 6:40 a.m. and swiftly began planting lawn signs along 31st St. The political battle of the season was about to kick off in Georgetown and throughout the District.

The Gray team arrived at 5:30 a.m., according to volunteer Lukas Lipinski. A micro-finance expert with Grameen America, Lipinski said this is the first time he's volunteered on a campaign; he's been a D.C. resident for 30 years. He said he supports Gray because he has had conversations with Gray about alleviating poverty in the District and believes Gray will do "a better job representing the needy Wards."

Fenty supporter, Sean (no last name provided), is the Fenty captain for the Christ Church site and said he will be at the polls all day. When asked why the Gray team beat them to the location, he said the morning meeting at Fenty headquarters on Georgia Ave. ran late.

Voters lined up beginning at 6:50 a.m. and when the doors opened at 7 a.m., about a dozen people were waiting to cast their vote. Georgetown resident Dan Hopkins brought his young son with him to vote. "This is not his first time voting" said Hopkins, though his son was mostly along for the ride on his way to pre-school. Hopkins said he preferred not to share his choice for mayor because of his profession.

Maxine Isaacs exited the poll at Christ Church and said she voted for Fenty. She called him a "legitimate reformer" and said the most important issue for her was school reform; she holds a favorable view of Rhee.

Over at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, many more volunteers manned both main entrances. Supporters of Fenty, Gray, Michael Brown and Kwame Brown stood at the ready to hand out leaflets. 

Gray supporter, Dr. Karyne Messina of Burleith, was decked out in Gray gear. She said as a psychologist with a focus on early childhood education, she supported Gray for his stance on pre-K for all. She said she did not believe that Michelle Rhee has a focus on early childhood education and that Fenty had tried to block pre-K legislation.

Marjorie Wolfe wore an "I Voted" sticker and said that vote went to Fenty. She said she went with him because "he's made a lot of changes" and now that "he's got everything rolling" she feels he should get a chance to continue. The biggest issue for Wolfe was education, she said she was "really impressed" with his work and she worries about other Wards where people's family members were teachers who were fired by Schools Chancellor Rhee. Wolfe said she thought Fenty had been given a bit of an awakening with the race and that she was keeping her "fingers crossed" for the primary outcome.

A metro bus carrying Ellington students dropped a large group in front of the school. Students started shouting at the Fenty team to get their signs off the school lawn. Yelling that Fenty had tried to close their school. The loudest of the bunch was a young man from Ward 7, who proceeded to hoist a Gray sign over his head as the group walked to Safeway before school began.

At both locations, voters trickled in slowly, leaving volunteers with little else to do than chat and drink coffee.

There was some initial confusion over poll watchers at Christ Church. Several watchers with "transfer cards" were initially turned away. A master list was provided to the site coordinator and his instructions has been that the list trumped all. Both a Fenty and a Gray poll watcher were waiting for the issue to be resolved. Alysoun McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Board of Elections and Ethics, said that the poll watchers appointed by the campaign, whether from the particular precinct or not, should be permitted to observe. As of 7:30 a.m. the issue was still unresolved.