Photo by luisgomezphotos.

Last week, we reported on an internal spat which broke out amongst members of the D.C. Democratic State Committee over who, if anyone, the group would endorse for the coming April 16 At-Large Special Election. The committee, which selected Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle in early January, seemed to be leaning towards him; other Democrats in the race cried foul, arguing that the committee hadn’t actually held an endorsement vote as called for in its bylaws.

Now it looks like the committee is trying to calm internal tensions and move on, though the way it’s going about it may not be terribly effective. On Thursday, the same night as the first candidate forum of the campaign, the committee passed a resolution re-affirming its support for Biddle, with 38 voting for, three against and five abstaining. (The committee has 82 members, though there are currently a few vacancies; 74 members voted in the selection process that Biddle won.) The committee also voted to give Biddle’s campaign $1,000, though that measure passed with narrower support: 23 voting for, 20 against and three abstaining.

The committee’s votes were a clear attempt to reconcile what had been a glaring inconsistency up until that point — Biddle may have been the favorite to win, but he hadn’t yet been formally endorsed as required by the committee’s bylaws. An endorsement requires a candidate forum followed by an open vote; 60 percent of voting members need to side with a particular candidate for them to claim the endorsement.

The news of Thursday’s votes wasn’t enough to calm at least one contender in the At-Large race, though. Vincent Orange, a Committee member who lost to Biddle in the selection process, seemed particularly put off by the committee’s improvised move to endorse Biddle.

“I think the D.C. Democratic State Committee should follow its constitution and bylaws. If you’re representing the party, it should be about democracy. Tonight, there was no notice requirement that that was going to be the subject matter that would be voted upon. The endorsement process indicates that you must have 60 percent of the vote, and so they’re in violation of their own constitution and bylaws. I think it’s outrageous and the leadership really needs to get its act together,” Orange told DCist.