Photo by Paige Weaver.

Before the election, I had guessed they would garner 7,000 votes. But the committed movement to write-in Mayor Adrian Fenty was the driving force behind the casting of 27,828 write-in votes in yesterday’s general election, nearly 23 percent of the approximately 125,000 votes cast. The vote total is all the more impressive when one considers that the movement to write-in Fenty was working with almost no money and lacked the support of the candidate it sought to elect.

Of course, not every single one of those 27,828 write-ins were for Fenty. But with no other candidate actively seeking them, it’s likely that Fenty secured a wide majority; it’s unlikely that a few thousand residents decided to put down their roommate or significant other as the District’s next mayor.

Looking at the breakdowns, the write-in effort did best in areas that Fenty carried in the primary. In Ward 3, write-ins notched 7,489 votes, 43 percent of the total; while in Ward 2, write-ins claimed 4,312 votes, 38 percent of the total. In Ward 6 and Ward 1, 30 percent of votes were write-ins. All told, Gray was denied an outright victory in nine of the District’s 143 precincts. Conversely, in Gray’s strongholds of Wards 7 and 8, the write-in movement only picked up 1,050 votes of over 26,000 cast.

What will remain a mystery is how those write-ins broke down. Did the majority come from disaffected Democrats, or did Republicans and Independents throw their support behind Fenty en masse? It was likely a mix, but without the actual numbers to suss it out, it is difficult to make any many real conclusions.

But we can make one prediction based on the information we have: as much as the Fenty write-in effort may have surpassed expectations, it won’t likely mean much for Mayor-elect Vince Gray’s political calculations moving forward. Gray already knew that Wards 2 and 3 aren’t so hot on him, based on the results of September’s primary. And while 23 percent might be a little embarrassing for Gray, it’s worth noting that the Mayor-elect also picked up an additional 40,000 votes since the primary. The 23 percent the write-in movement got might provide a little sting, but it probably won’t alter Gray’s plans for his administration.

Another interesting question, yet to be answered: did the write-in crowd do enough to make Fenty think about a potential run in 2014? Maybe. But we’re still processing this round of elections — let’s leave that prognosticating until at least next week, shall we?