Only months ago, D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s (D-Ward 5) political career seemed to have come crashing down as his bid for attorney general collapsed in somewhat spectacular fashion. On Tuesday, though, he experienced a political resurrection of sorts — and it came at the expense of one of his colleagues.

McDuffie has emerged as the victor of the hotly contested race for an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council current held by Councilmember Elissa Silverman. While he took an early lead and remained ahead over the course of Tuesday night, McDuffie’s win was cemented on Wednesday night after a batch of 13,000 outstanding mail ballots were counted and Silverman was left with no way to overcome him.

With close to 180,000 votes counted, McDuffie, a one-time Democrat who shed the party affiliation to run for the seat, claimed just over 22% of the vote to Silverman’s 19%. Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At Large) was further ahead with 32% of the vote, retaining her seat. (There are two At-Large seats up for grabs every two years; one has to be occupied by a non-Democrat.)

Shortly after the results were updated on Wednesday night, Silverman conceded the race to McDuffie, saying she had called him to congratulate him and that the final batch of ballots counted had made his victory “unassailable.” McDuffie followed with his own statement declaring victory in the race.

“Voters have also delivered a message: we need to take bold steps to address some of the greatest challenges facing the District. For the last ten years, I have spearheaded innovative and data-driven policies to tackle the root causes of crime, expand and invest in the city’s supply of affordable housing, address the legacy of institutional discrimination that has led to our city’s growing racial wealth gap, and help our local economy recover stronger than ever from the pandemic. And as your next At-Large Councilmember, I’ll continue to work with you and my colleagues on the DC Council to confront head-on our most pressing issues with solutions, not simply paid lip service,” he said in a statement.

McDuffie’s win marks a surprising turnaround in his political fortunes. A Ward 5 councilmember since 2012, McDuffie announced last year that he was setting his sights on the attorney general’s office. An early favorite, his candidacy fell apart earlier this year when he was found to not meet eligibility requirements that spell out how much legal experience contenders must have. But within two months of suspending that campaign, he announced that he would shed his Democratic affiliation and run as an independent for the At-Large seat held by Silverman since 2014.

Silverman, a stalwart progressive on the council, quickly took to dismissing McDuffie as a tool of developers and special interests, pointing to his campaign fundraising. (Silverman was using the city’s public financing program; McDuffie used it for his attorney general run, meaning he couldn’t use it for his council campaign.) She quickly swept up endorsements from labor unions and progressive groups, while business-friendly groups and the editorial board of The Washington Post lined up behind McDuffie.

In the closing days of the campaign, the Office of Campaign Finance ruled that Silverman had violated campaign laws by spending public campaign funds on polling in a Democratic council race in which she was not a candidate; she filed a quick appeal but it was denied, generating more than a week of coverage and fueling her critics.

McDuffie’s win on Tuesday isn’t just notable for having come at Silverman’s expense, but also how he managed to defeat her. He swept up votes in majority Black parts of D.C. and ate into Silverman’s traditional base in Wards 3 and 6, creating a broad coalition of voters that crossed demographic lines in an otherwise divided city. That path to victory was praised by Mayor Muriel Bowser — who won her own race on Tuesday, and in 2018 openly sought Silverman’s defeat — during a press conference Wednesday.

“He did not exclude any ward in his outreach, he won precincts in every ward, and he had really big numbers. When you’re able to cut into an opponent’s base like he did, you’re going to win,” she said. “We can question the voters, but they spoke, they know what they’re doing.”

Bowser later added that McDuffie had “crushed it,” and said that voters had rejected Silverman because she had “ethical issues,” a reference to the OCF ruling.

McDuffie’s Ward 5 seat will be filled by Zachary Parker when all councilmembers are sworn in on Jan. 2.