For a while there, it was fun to joke about Michael D. Brown actually winning an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council that he barely campaigned for and raised no money to pursue. Even with his recent victory in a Ward 5 straw poll, most people assumed that voters would eventually realize that he wasn’t Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At Large), a well-liked political figure who ran for mayor in 2006.

But a high-profile poll, the results of which were published today by the Washington Post, shows that Brown might win on little more than name confusion. According to the poll, Brown picks up 41 percent of likely voters to incumbent Phil Mendelson’s 29 percent and Clark Ray’s six percent. Brown’s support is strongest amongst African-American voters, where he leads Mendelson 49 to 14. Only in wards 2 and 3 is Mendelson ahead — and just barely, 32 to 27, with Ray taking in nine percent — while in wards 7 and 8 Brown takes in fully half the likely votes, with Mendelson claiming only 12 percent and Ray 10 percent.

For anyone that might think that maybe, just maybe, Michael D. Brown is simply a great guy that doesn’t need any money to run an effective campaign (which would make him the most sought-after political consultant in the whole country, nay, the world), the Post states: “More broadly, support for Michael D. across the city tracks almost exactly with Michael A.’s showing in the 2008 election results.”

Not so funny anymore, is it?