Patrick Mara. (Photo by Luis Gomez.)

During his recent campaign for an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council, Republican Patrick Mara often argued that advocates for D.C. voting rights and autonomy didn’t do enough to engage congressional Republicans, opting instead to demonize them. Mara didn’t win the race — he came in a close second to Vincent Orange — but he’s recently been given a chance to put his pro-Republican voting rights pitches to the test.

At D.C. Vote’s June 2 meeting, the city’s preeminent D.C. voting rights organization invited Mara to join its board of directors, making him the first Republican to serve in that capacity since the group was founded in 1998.

Mara, who currently represents Ward 1 on the D.C. State Board of Education, told DCist that he hopes to use his political affiliation to his advantage, and plans on lobbying Republican members of Congress on issues such as budget autonomy.

“Let’s see how we can work together,” he said, noting that in the past Republicans have supported programs that have been beneficial to District residents, such as tuition grants for out-of-state public universities and first-time homebuyer tax credits. He also noted that attacks on the city have come from both sides. “It’s a two-way street…both sides have been willing to throw us under the bus,” he said.

Mara first came to the District’s attention when he knocked off incumbent Republican Councilmember Carol Schwartz during a contentious primary in 2008, though he lost to Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At-Large) thereafter. Since then, Mara’s been one of the most popular local Republican candidates, besting an incumbent in last’s year State Board of Education race and coming within 1,700 votes of victory in April’s At-Large Special Election.

Mara’s appointment to D.C. Vote’s 16-person board is temporary until December, when he will start a full three-year term along with Vinoda Basnayake, an associate at Patton Boggs and part-owner of Eden nightclub.

Until then, though, Mara plans on keeping up the fight for D.C. voting rights. Next week, he’ll be meeting with a Republican presidential contender — he didn’t want to say which one — with whom he’ll bring up issues close to the District.