The D.C. Board of Elections today set April 23, 2013 as the date for a special election to fill an At-Large seat vacated by D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson.

Under a new law signed by President Obama, the election would have to be held between 70 and 174 days after a vacancy was declared, which happened today. Within that time frame, the election could have been scheduled for anytime between February 12 and May 21.

No candidate has yet formally declared their intentions, though Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large)—himself soon to be out of office—has hinted that he would run again, along with former candidates Sekou Biddle, Patrick Mara and Peter Shapiro. A.J. Cooper, who ran in November, also said he would run.

Additionally, should the D.C. Council vote to approve it, a referendum on giving D.C. expanded budget autonomy would land on the same day.

In two weeks, though, the D.C. Democratic State Committee will gather for its conclave, where party members will select an interim councilmember to fill the seat until the special election. Three party members have thrown their names in the ring: committee chairwoman Anita Bonds, former D.C. delegate candidate Doug Sloan and former Shadow Representative John Capozzi.

The last time this happened, of course, was in 2011, when the committee selected Biddle to fill a seat vacated by Kwame Brown, only to see him lose to Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large). Critics of the process have said that the selection is unnecessary and opaque; in 2011 members violated standing rules by using private ballots for the voting.

Both the selection process and the special election are sure to be deep with political intrigue and drama. Biddle lost to Orange in this year’s Democratic primary, accusing Shapiro of siphoning votes from him. The year prior, Mara and Biddle somewhat cancelled each other out in their quests, leaving Orange to sneak back into office. And Brown? Well, should he win in April, he’ll end up serving on the council alongside David Grosso, who just bested him in November.

You can’t script this stuff. You really can’t.