Six months ago, virtually no one in the world of D.C. politics had heard of her. Now, she’s on her way to being the first new Ward 2 councilmember in almost three decades. Brooke Pinto is now the presumptive winner of Tuesday’s contested Democratic primary for the Ward 2 Council seat, after second-place vote-getter Patrick Kennedy conceded on Saturday afternoon.

She still has to win November’s general election, but that seems all but a formality in the Democrat-dominated city. And as Pinto’s two biggest competitors say they won’t campaign in the June 16 special election to complete the last six months of former Councilmember Jack Evans’ term, she is likely to take office as soon as later this month.

Pinto, 28, emerged from Election Day with a 102-vote lead over Kennedy, an ANC commissioner from Foggy Bottom. But that lead grew to 187 votes by Thursday, at which point third-place vote-getter Jordan Grossman conceded the race and said he wouldn’t campaign in the special election. But while Pinto declared herself the winner — “I am proud and confident to say that we have won the Ward 2 Democratic Primary,” she said in a statement — Kennedy warned that some absentee ballots had yet to be counted.

On Friday, the vote-margin grew to 387 votes in Pinto’s favor, further dousing Kennedy’s chances. At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who had endorsed Grossman, congratulated Pinto on her apparent win, and urged Ward 2 voters to choose her in the June 16 special election. On Saturday, Kennedy formally conceded the race.

“Based on the number of ballots left to be counted, Brooke Pinto is the presumptive Democratic nominee for Ward 2. I wish her success in the fall campaign, and provided that the results of the special election accelerate her transition to office, I will support her and her team where I can,” said Kennedy in a statement.

Pinto jumped into the crowded race in February, becoming the eighth and final Democrat vying to take the seat Evans had resigned from in January in the wake of revelations of ethical misconduct. Born and bred in Connecticut, Pinto moved to D.C. in 2014 for law school and joined Attorney General Karl Racine’s office four years later. She was the only one of the eight candidates who didn’t use the city’s new public finance program, allowing her to pump thousands of dollars into her own race.

When she entered the race, she did so with Racine’s endorsement — giving her a political boost she may not otherwise have had as a relative newcomer to city politics. And she got a major shot in the arm when the editorial board of The Washington Post endorsed her, saying “she is steeped in reality and would hit the ground running with grit and smarts.” Pinto also  landed endorsements from Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and House Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Massachusetts).

Her win is yet another jolt in this year’s campaign season. In Ward 4, Janeese Lewis George defeated incumbent Brandon Todd, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s handpicked successor. And it marks the likely addition of two women to the Council, bringing the city’s legislature closer to gender parity. Finally, Pinto and George will be the youngest members of the Council, at 28 and 32 respectively.

Should Pinto, George, and incumbents Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and At-large Councilmember Robert White win their races in November, there will be four former employees of the attorney general on the D.C. Council.

Meanwhile, Pinto’s apparent ascension to the Council also brings to a conclusive end the era of Jack Evans, which stretched over almost three decades. During that time, Evans developed a reputation as a business-friendly budget hawk, but was ultimately dethroned by an ethics scandal of his own making.

Evans placed seventh in the Ward 2 race; as of Saturday he had received only 344 votes. “I respect the voters. I enjoyed serving and now look forward to the next chapter of my life,” he told DCist.

In a statement earlier this week, Pinto said she planned to hit the ground running. “We must now unite and begin the hard work of recovering from COVID-19 and healing the wounds of division caused by systemic racism and injustice,” she said. “Let’s get to work!”

This story has been updated to correct Brooke Pinto’s endorsements.