It hasn’t yet been formally announced, but everyone in D.C. politics has already made complicated flowcharts trying to make sense of what will happen if D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown—or anyone above him—resigns. Let’s go with what seems possible for now—Brown steps down.

In the immediate future, Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), the council chair pro tempore, steps up to fill Brown’s seat. But she won’t last long—by law one of the four At-Large members has to be elevated to occupy Brown’s seat until a special election can be held, which has to happen within four months of a declared vacancy.

So between Phil Mendelson, Michael Brown, Vincent Orange, and David Catania, who gets it? Well, as the District Curmudgeon notes, you could probably knock Catania and Brown off the list first. Both have lucrative second jobs that they’d have to give up. Orange has always had higher ambitions, so they might want to pass on the interim chairmanship and run instead during a special election. That leaves Mendelson. Or Chairman Mendelson to you.

There are still some issues that might have to be litigated, though. Does the interim chair really have to give up outside employment? The D.C. Charter doesn’t explicitly say, which means that Catania or Brown could well still try to take over for Brown. Also: would Michael Brown and Orange be able to run for chair in a special election and their respective At-Large seats, which are up in November? Technically yes—these are two separate elections, after all.

How about the timing of the special election? Well, it has to happen on the first Tuesday 114 days after a declared vacancy, so four months from whenever Brown formally resigns. (Should he resign this week, that would be roughly in October.) Thankfully, the D.C. Charter allows for a special election to be held on the same date as a general election if they fall within 60 days of each other. With the timing we could be looking at, the special election could be moved to November.

Obviously, that’s not the end of it. Should Orange, Michael Brown or any other member of the council run for Kwame’s seat and win, well, then there would have to be a special election for their seat too.

It all gets significantly more complicated should Gray go down too, and depending on the timing. There’s always the chance of Mayor Mendelson, if only for a few months.