DCNOW’s D.C. Elections Update: DCNOW Congratulates Its Endorsed D.C. Council Candidates Who Won in 2026 Special Election and 2026 Primary Elections

By: Miriam Edelman

Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – DCNOW congratulates all of its endorsed D.C. Council candidates on their special election and their primary election victories. The primary election winners will be advancing to the November 3, 2026, general election. DCNOW announces that it is making an additional general election endorsement.

The June 2026 special election and primary elections were the first time that D.C. used ranked-choice voting (RCV). In RCV elections, a candidate must gain a majority (that is, at least 50 percent of the vote plus one vote). A candidate cannot win with only a plurality (meaning more votes than any other candidate).

In D.C.’s June 2026 special election and primary elections, all candidates (who either had a plurality or majority) of first-round votes ultimately won. Two ranked-choice races went to multiple rounds of voting because no one received a majority of first-round votes. Those races were primary elections City Council At-Large (Anita Bonds’ seat – She is not running for reelection.) and City Council Ward One (Brianne Nadeau’s seat – She is not running for reelection.). Fair Vote, which supports RCV, wrote the following about preliminary results:

“Across the two races that went to RCV counts, 90% of voters expressed a preference among the three finalists. In both races, 71% of voters whose first choice was eliminated still had their ballot count for one of the finalists — including about 30,000 voters in the at-large Democratic Council primary.”

The DCNOW-endorsed candidate who won in the recent June 16, 2026, special election is Elissa Silverman (Independent). She will rejoin the D.C. Council soon. DCNOW is pleased to endorse her in her 2026 general election bid, which is for a full four-year term.

Every DCNOW-endorsed candidate won in the recent June 16, 2026, primary elections. Those victorious candidates are:

-          Janeese Lewis George (Democrat) – For election to Mayor (There is an open-seat election because the incumbent Mayor Muriel Bowser is not running for reelection.)

-          Brian Schwalbe (Democrat) – For re-election to Attorney General

-          Phil Mendelson (Democrat) – For re-election to D.C. Council Chair

-          Oye Owolewa (Democrat) – For election to an At-Large D.C. Council (There is an open-seat election because the incumbent Anita Bonds is not running for reelection.)

-          Aparna Raj (Democrat) – For election to the Ward One D.C. Council seat (There is an open-seat election because the incumbent Brianne Nadeau is not running for reelection.)

-          Matthew Frumin (Democrat) – For re-election to the Ward Three seat

-          Zachary Parker (Democrat) – For re-election to the Ward Five seat

-          Charles Allen (Democrat) – For re-election to the Ward Six seat

DCNOW’s leadership said, “DCNOW is pleased that all of our candidates won their recent elections. We are proud to support them.”