Just like the Post before it, the City Paper has jumped on board with Sekou Biddle, Muriel Bowser and Jacque Patterson in the April 3 D.C. primary.

Over the weekend the Washington Post’s editorial board endorsed candidates for the D.C. Council, and in three races it opted for the challengers.

If Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is worried about his re-election prospects next year, he certainly isn’t letting on. Barry hasn’t yet filed his re-election paperwork, nor has he picked up nominating petitions to get himself on the ballot. Plenty of other people have, though, including his former spokesperson.

News this morning from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics is that while Republican Patrick Mara and Bryan Weaver will likely stay on the ballot for the April 26 At-Large Special Election, Jacque Patterson will most likely be knocked off due to challenges filed by Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle and Alonzo Edmondson, a supporter of fellow candidate Vincent Orange.

In February, Ward 1 resident Maria Cardona signed a nominating petition to get Bryan Weaver on the ballot for the April 26 At-Large Special Election. According to Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle’s campaign, however, Cardona is one of 1,417 questionable signatures on Weaver’s petitions.

But she’s also Weaver’s wife.

Interim D.C. Councilmember Sekou Biddle (D-At Large) filed a series of challenges to nominating petitions submitted by Bryan Weaver, Patrick Mara and Jacque Patterson late yesterday afternoon, setting in motion a process that may well find some or all of the trio kicked off the April 26 Special Election ballot.

At a forum hosted by The Georgetown Dish and Georgetown Current yesterday evening, five candidates for the April 26 At-Large Special Election debated each other, touching upon a number of issues including the District’s looming 2012 budget deficit and D.C. Council salaries. (Check out our Twitter timeline of the whole debate here.)

It’s not particularly relevant, but it’s interesting none the less — Jacque Patterson spent 14 years in active-duty military service, escorting chaplains to the front line so they could perform religious services. “I’m real good, to say the least,” Patterson told DCist last week, referring to his ability to handle M-16s and 9mm handguns.

That’s not the sort of thing I felt inclined to question.

Last week, we reported on an internal spat which broke out amongst members of the D.C. Democratic State Committee over who, if anyone, the group would endorse for the coming April 16 At-Large Special Election. The committee, which selected Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle in early January, seemed to be leaning towards him; other Democrats in the race cried foul, arguing that the committee hadn’t actually held an endorsement vote as called for in its bylaws. Now it looks like the committee is trying to calm internal tensions and move on, though the way it’s going about it may not be terribly effective.

Having the support of the city’s political establishment pays off — literally.