Peter Shapiro

It’s a dirty word in politics, but one that was uttered among some supporters of Sekou Biddle last night—Peter Shapiro is a spoiler. Shapiro, as you may recall, joined Biddle and E. Gail Anderson Holness in challenging Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) for an At-Large seat on the council. Though absentee and provisional ballots cast for yesterday’s primary have yet to be counted, Orange has a 543-vote lead over Biddle, with Shapiro and Holness trailing far behind.

Biddle supporters were quick to note that had Shapiro bowed out, maybe Biddle wouldn’t be behind today. Heck, he could have won. Those 1,300 votes that Shapiro racked up in Ward 3? They could have been Biddle’s. At least that’s what Biddle thought last night, when he candidly told us what he thought of Shapiro’s role in the election: “[T]he numbers here show he has always been at best in third place, a spoiler firmly where he sits,” he said. (According to the Post, prominent Biddle supporters are calling Shapiro the “Ralph Nader of D.C. politics.”)

Shapiro, who remained quiet while votes were coming in yesterday, forcefully contested that this afternoon.

“This election was always about a clean break from the past. You gotta see it from my perspective—I’m running against an incumbent and a former incumbent. In this election, neither one of these guys, even with their past experiences, could get a majority of the vote. As I look at it, the ‘spoiler’ in this is their bad track records. Their records is what disabled either one of these guys from pulling this off,” he said.

Shapiro, a D.C. native who served on the Prince George’s County Council before returning to the city recently, went further, saying that in a one-on-one contest he could have beaten Orange. “I think if there were a one-on-one contest between me and Orange, I would have won, and won handily. I think it would have been very difficult for Sekou Biddle to pull that off,” he told us.

It’s certainly a difficult issue, and one that’s dividing people that otherwise agree that Orange had to go. (It’s also frustrating opponents of Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander, who won her primary while two opponents evenly divided up the opposition’s votes.) It’s also not without comparison—in last year’s At-Large special election, critics pointed to Bryan Weaver for stealing votes away from Republican Patrick Mara, who fell just over 1,500 votes shy of beating Orange. Biddle asked Weaver to drop out, but he demurred. This year Weaver supported Biddle over Shapiro. Many former Weaver fans sided with Shapiro, though.

Additionally, as some Shapiro supporters have said, Holness could well be accused of playing the role of spoiler herself—though in her case, she suck votes away from Orange in some of the wards he did well in.

The spoiler issue again ties into a trade-off that’s inherent in most democracies—you often have to choose between someone you love and someone you think can win. Local progressives have said that instant runoff voting is the only way to get around this; why should voters have to hold their noses when they cast their ballot?

Still, with a victory that close at hand, Biddle supporters aren’t having any of it. To them, Shapiro tried to be the perfect, when Biddle could have been the good that won. Ranked voting is too complicated and won’t likely be implemented in D.C. Plus, democracy is about being pragmatic, right?

Shapiro supporters predictably disagree. In its endorsement, Greater Greater Washington wrote that Biddle never “made a compelling argument for electing him in other ways beyond simply not being Vincent Orange.” Shapiro largely agrees. “These guys have been around. They’re connected to a broken political machine,” he said. (A broken machine that produces consistently low turnout, it should be said. Had more voters participated, maybe this wouldn’t have been such an either-or proposition.)

Of course, this may not even be an issue if Biddle emerges victorious. Absentee, provisional, special, and curbside ballots are yet to be counted; that should happen by Friday, April 13. Biddle will need 60 percent of those to surpass Orange. What’s likely is an automatic recount, and possibly an even tighter margin between the two front-runners.

And that will only further inflame opinions over whether Shapiro spoiled Biddle’s victory.