The local branch of the Democratic Party isn't known to many, nor has it attracted much positive attention in recent years. A recent move to change the longstanding practice of directly electing its party officials certainly won't help. more ›

Last Thursday, the D.C. Democratic State Committee's membership gathered to select an interim candidate to fill the At-Large seat on the D.C. Council left vacant when Kwame Brown rose to the chairmanship of the city's legislative body. As we reported on Friday, Sekou Biddle defeated Vincent Orange for the spot after three rounds of voting and furious caucusing in a kitchenette connected to the conference room where the voting took place. (The Post was none-too-impressed with the process, according to an editorial published today.) Beyond the confusions surrounding whether or not the balloting was open or not (party officials claimed they used an "open ballot," but who the ballot would be open to after the fact to remains a mystery), one of the most comical elements of evening's proceedings was how party officials collected donations -- with a glass bowl and paper bag. more ›

After three rounds of contested votes -- and some kitchenette caucusing -- from 74 members of the D.C. Democratic State Committee last night, Sekou Biddle was selected to fill the seat once occupied by D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown until a special election can be held on April 26. more ›

Last week, we reported that the D.C. Democratic State Committee had laid out the process by which it would fill the soon-to-be-empty seat currently held by At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown. Of course, whoever gets the nod from the Democratic committee won't be on the job long -- according to the D.C. Home Rule Charter, a special election has to be held within four months of the vacancy. more ›

Kwame Brown officially claimed the title of D.C. Council Chairman-elect last week, which means he has to give up his At-Large Councilmember position come January. So who will replace him? A special election for a permanent replacement, expected to be an hotly-contested affair with no fewer than fourteen legitimate candidates having their names dropped for the job, will be held sometime in the spring. For precedent: the last time such special elections for Council seats were held was in May 2007, when seats in Ward 4 and Ward 7 -- Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chair/Mayor-elect Vince Gray's former seats, respectively -- were up for grabs. more ›

The District of Columbia is the most solidly Democratic spot in the entire country, according to new polling analysis from Gallup (hat tip to the Post's Behind the Numbers blog). Not only does President Obama enjoy hugely favorable approval numbers inside D.C. (87 percent, compared to 53 percent nationwide), but Democrats have a whopping 66 percentage point advantage here. That's more than double the difference in the next most Democratic state, Rhode Island, where Democrats enjoy a 32 percentage point advantage. more ›

Good morning, Washington. The week surrounding the holidays is almost always a certifiably slow news period, so you can bet good money every local media outlet in the country is shamefacedly relieved to be able to find their own angle on the terrifying fatal San Francisco Zoo tiger attack. Sister site SFist has the roundup of Bay Area coverage, and the Examiner steps up to the plate with the D.C. version of the story -- the National Zoo is "prepared to finetune safety protocols." Phew! More scintillating post-Christmas reporting below. more ›

The Washington Post has a fantastic story on today's front page accusing Sen. Mary Landrieu (D.-La.), in her role as chairwoman of the Senate's D.C. appropriations subcommittee up until earlier this year, of forcing an unproven reading program on the District's kindergarten and first grade classrooms in exchange for $80,000 in donations from the company that designed it. more ›

>> "More than 50 nonunionized workers rallied against the new Nationals ballpark this morning, angry that more District residents did not receive construction jobs." [WaPo] >> "I saw firsthand the fragile relationship that exists between Mayor Fenty and the City Council Members. I heard tales of a delayed Comprehensive Annual Financial Review , rising murder rates and a Chief of Police who feels burdened by a system that won't help her, proposals to close... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Make it to the polls yesterday? If so, we hope you did so before the sun went down — it got cold in a hurry last night, as the area rapidly moved from warmer-than-usual temps to colder-than-usual ones. CapitalWeather is saying that the weekend should be warmer, at least. Election 2007: The results are in, and it looks like it was a good night for Virginia's Democrats. The Dems picked up... more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Fredo Alvarez In a 60-39 cloture vote, the U.S. Senate barely passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (S 1105) today as an amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill (HR 1585). The measure would expand protection against hate crimes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and would enable the Federal government to provide assistance in the investigation or prosecution of... more ›

Via the Examiner, someone has posted a video of D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to YouTube where she openly discusses the obstacles she’s come across in trying to overhaul our troubled public school system. The 12-minute clip shows Rhee speaking to the Democrats for Education Reform about a week ago. She describes the school system as running “counter to the way any good organization operates,” and insists that "the only way" to get to... more ›

Here's one more United States senator to add to your list of annoying congresscritters sticking their nose in the District's business. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has created an income test for participation in D.C.'s Tuition Assistance Grant Program, which provides financial aid for residents at all public and some private universities around the country. The program is designed to ensure that D.C. residents have the same opportunities as all other Americans to attend a university... more ›

As the Senate prepares to vote today over whether to close debate on legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, no one can safely say whether the votes will be there to head off a threatened filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made his opposition to the bill painfully clear in a floor speech yesterday, and voting rights activists have been scrambling to gain enough Republican allies to reach... more ›

>> Don't forget: thousands of dirty hippies and the gun-toting maniacs who hate them are getting together for a big ol' hootenanny down on the National Mall tomorrow morning. It's the War on War on War. >> At the Washington City Paper, editorial assistants who make mistakes aren't just named, they're taken out back and tortured with one million paper cuts using the latest issue while Erik Wemple screams "you're not good enough to... more ›

Popular former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner formally announced today that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Warner. The announcement immediately give the Democrats a strong frontrunner in a race that would help solidify a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, and makes the possibility of two Democrats representing the Commonwealth of Virginia for the first time since 1970 highly likely. No other serious Democrat is likely to... more ›

As the housing market continues its downward spiral, D.C. officials are getting on board to recognize there may be some kind of problem going on. WTOP reports that the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking has signed a contract with the D.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending, which will begin an investigation into subprime mortgage lending in the city. The point of the investigation seems to be mostly getting a head count of people with... more ›

Even though the U.S. Senate is known as the best retirement home in America -- great healthcare, plenty of daily activities, and people continue to pay attention to you for some reason -- Virginia Sen. John Warner announced today that come next year, he's out. And while his announcement is big news, even bigger is the fight that's about to come to replace him. Consider the circumstances. The commonwealth is a political toss-up these days.... more ›

Samuel Gompers is one of those names you vaguely remember from AP U.S. History, along with The Grange and the Know-Nothings. They fit in somehow, but you don't exactly remember why. While he may not be on the tips of people's tongues, he does have a rather large monument on Massachusetts Avenue NW near Mount Vernon Square. Gompers, born in London in 1850, was a major figure in the American labor movement, organizing and... more ›

As you, faithful DCist reader, should know, today is the day that you can take action for District voting rights. And if you haven't already, why not take your lunch break to call the toll-free number the folks at D.C. Vote have set-up (1-866-346-3008) and lobby a senator? If you're a District resident, you'll get patched through to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). If not, you'll get your home senator. On top of the handy... more ›

Via the Washington Blade, President Bush has issued a veto threat of the D.C. appropriations bill because it lifts bans allowing federal funding to be spent to enable residents to register as domestic partners and qualify for benefits like married couples, and lifts the ban on funding for needle distribution programs to drug users. “Under federal law, legal marriage is the union between a man and a woman,” the memo says. “Federal tax dollars are... more ›

As you'll of course recall from back in late March, during the House floor debate on the voting rights issue, Rep. Louie Gohmert volunteered to represent the interests of the District's voters in the House of Representatives. Considering we still don't have a full voting member of our own, we kindly thanked the congressman by asking all of you to get in touch with Rep. Gohmert so that he could address your concerns personally.... more ›

As we mentioned in the Roundup this morning, Mayor Adrian Fenty has fired D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, and announced this morning at a press conference that he would be replaced by Michelle Rhee, in a new position as D.C. Schools Chancellor. The Post has a good story up already with some details of Rhee's background: she's the the founder of New Teacher Project, a nonprofit group based in New York that trains mid-career... more ›

In their coverage of the Capital Pride Festival, which kicked off yesterday and will culminate in a parade and street festival this weekend, the Post gives an account of a town hall meeting on GLBT issues last night at Studio Theatre where Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said he plans to introduce a bill legalizing gay marriage in the District within the next two years. Graham appeared on the panel with several other openly... more ›

The past week or so has been tough for all you car commuters out there, huh? For each of the past 10 days, the average price of gas in the U.S. has reached yet another record high. The price for a gallon of regular is currently at $3.21 and rising, which exceeds the 1981 record of $1.35, or $3.15 in current dollars. Experts don't expect prices to go down any time soon, if ever. The... more ›

Good day, Washington. Are you getting tired of this gorgeous weather yet? Yeah, us neither. As you work out the kinks in your upcoming Memorial Day Weekend plans, we wish you good luck and delight in describing the rest of this week and weekend ahead as forecast to be sunny and hot enough to give you that sunburn you've been hoping for. We're also putting together a few ideas for last-minute day trips for those... more ›

The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has scheduled a hearing to consider legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. The hearing, which will be presided over by bill sponsor Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), will take place on Tuesday, May 15 in 342 Dirksen. The hearing -- which we'll try to live-blog, obvs -- should be interesting. Among the Republicans on the committee are a... more ›

Of course we'd be remiss if we didn't spend a little quality time with that polling data on voting rights the Washington Post was kind enough to dig up for all of us, along with the story Mary Beth Sheridan and Jon Cohen put together to go along with it. You've probably read it by now, but just in case you didn't: A sizable majority of Americans think the District should have a full voting... more ›

Happy Friday, D.C. It's sunny out, this weekend is apparently going to be gorgeous (72 degrees!), and on Thursday, the D.C. Voting Rights Act passed the House of Representatives. In order to avoid a repeat of last time, Democrats broke the voting rights measure into two bills -- one that would add the extra seats in the house and the other a PAY-GO bill to fund them. They were both written so narrowly that Republicans... more ›

Last time we live blogged the House debate on District voting rights, things didn't go too well. We're hoping for a bit of an improvement today. From what we've heard on the Hill, debate kicks off at 10:30 a.m., and the legislation has been split up into two separate parts -- one covering the actual voting seats both D.C. and Utah would receive and the other dealing with the minor increase in annual spending the... more ›