Preliminary Results: ANC2C Goodness! *Updated*

Wow, very disappointed in my fellow 2C03 voters. The 2C02 is a big victory though.

I am not disappointed in 2C03 voters.

Please realize that once Pres-elect Obama was placed on the top of the ticket, I think it was an uphill battle for the challenger. To a certain degree, the incumbent was able to ride Obama’s coattails. The challenger ran a solid campaign and might have done better in a different year.

How did Doris Brooks get re-elected? That’s the worst local news in a day with a lot of good news.
Obama had nothing to do with Doris Brooks winning. Coattails in an ANC election? Preposterous. Also, ANC elections are non-partisan, so it’s not like people could have voted a straight party line & elected Brooks.
Brooks was re-elected due to the usual DC habit of retaining old incumbents, a habit that is found in democracies throughout the world. People tend to vote [& act] like peasants [or serfs]. It’ll take a few million years of evolution before most people progress past the peasantry.
The challenger Jessica Lanza barely got 40% of the vote. That’s not a “solid campaign” – that’s losing by a landslide.
Four more years of Doris Brooks – good luck, PQ.

While the 2C03 election results are disappointing, they are improving as compared to past years. Consider these numbers from the last 2 ANC elections:

In 2006
JOHN TINPE
131 votes
28.85%

DORIS L. BROOKS
315 votes
69.38%

In 2004
DORIS L. BROOKS
475 votes
63.67%

PAUL B. THORPE
257 votes
34.45%

What I find most disappointing are the 259 under votes, which means that 259 people in 2C03 left the ANC portion of their ballot blank.

That’s exactly right gpliving, 259 under votes. These very local races are one where every single vote counts.

My impression was that turnout in the African-American community was especially high given Barack Obama was on the top of the ticket. If we assume Doris Brooks was receiving more support from the African-American community, then this increased turnout, due to Barack Obama, would make it harder for Ms. Lanza. 2006 would have been a poor model for trying to plan for 2008. Yes, these are coattails.

So much for CHANGE!

Outside the ONLY polling place for 2C03, there was NO ONE campaigning for Lanza. She could have won or received more votes if SOMEONE was there to remind people how important the vote for ANC was. It really was that simple. 160 under votes in her favor would have gotten rid of Brooks forever.

Anon, I wouldn’t beat anyone up over trying to win the under votes. If I recall correctly, there were a few hundred of them in previous 2C elections as well. There may be something more going on than we can deduce from the numbers.

hey I and other volunteers were passing out lit for jessica outside of the poll for at least 6hrs on election day!

GP LIVING…while I agree that there is little to do on the “undervotes” I must laugh because there was little done to get the word out on what the ANC does for the PQ area. Last night the owner of CocoSala went before the ANC to ask for an outside seating permit and Doris did not even know this restaurant was located in her district! She sent him back to the drawing board…costing him more time and more money…this is RIDICULOUS!

I love GPLiving and I do not want to second guess but the ANC can solve alot of the issues that are covered on this site IF it is a functioning body. Doris is a worthless puppet and anyone who cares to challenge this point please go watch the videos and read the posts on all of the sites that cover ANC2C.

With this being said…the reformers will have 3 people and Leroy Thorpe will have one…making it alot easier to get things done BUT there needs to be more done to explain to voters in Doris’ SMD about what the ANC can do for them. For years UHOP has been the base of votes for Doris and slowly there has been progress made BUT I think if there was more coverage and more highlighting on how Commissioner Brooks has “represented” GP things might have been slightly different.

Enough on the rant and finger pointing from me…in January we can finally start changing things for the better and a note to those of you South of Mass…WE NEED YOU and your thoughts as to how we make our neighborhoods better!

Oh and Anon…Si and the folks helping Jessica are all residents of Mt. Vernon Square and Shaw…I am sorry but part of this MUST fall on the voter’s shoulders. Jessica and the team made a fantastic effort in getting the word out but maybe one thing that could help is a list of building association contacts and email lists that we could plug into a very sophisticated network of blogs and listserves in the neighborhood.

When I moved to Shaw it took me 6 months to realize how much the ANC could do to fix issues…slowly (with the efforts of people like Si and Martin Moulton and alot of COMMUNITY effort, heartburn and headaches) the Shaw and MV Square neighborhoods have become educated as to how important the ANC is in fixing issues like vacant houses and crime…that is why you will see alot of us sitting in every meeting reminding our commissioners as to how important it is to pay attention to the community.

First Wednesday of each month at Kennedy Rec Center at 630 pm…see you there!

I think a lot of voters (well at least this voter) activly avoid anyone handing out campaign materials when heading to the polls, so I’m not sure how much you can change a vote on the day of the election.

Having said that, I’m glad to hear that Si & others were out there pulling for Jessica, I wish that had been enough to turn the tide. Getting voting advice on my way to the poll isn’t for me, but I know it probably helps many others.

Actually there was someone handing out materials for Lanza at the MLK Library polling station. But, we didn’t receive anything prior to that solicit.

Remember that the condos in Penn Quarter are in two different ANC’s. That greatly dilutes their voting strength. The dividing line is 6th Street NW. Most of the residential is in the other ANC. The dividing line for the new downtown polling location is K Street which leaves City Vista separated from the other condos in Mt. Vernon Triangle. It will be helpful when the political boundaries for the downtown condos in this area include all or most of them as they have many issues in common and need a unified voice and representation.

I ditto MVTResident’s comment

Until such redistricting is done (if it is ever done), each resident needs to become active in his/her Neighborhood Association (DNA/MVSNA/CCCA) and even more importantly – with their corresponding ANC.

ANC6C has a strong set of commissioners and advocates for the neighborhood. ANC6C has a very strong set of committees (such as Planning and Zoning) that ask the hard questions of developers and ensure that the resident’s voices are heard. ANC6C works well with the neighborhood associations and wants to work with a functioning ANC2C … there is no reason at all to let arbitrary dividing lines impact what goes on in Penn Quarter\MVS\Shaw, especially now with the positive changes taking place in ANC2C.

You have the responsibility to become involved and help enact/promote the changes you see needed in the neighborhood. If you sit back and do nothing, then as they say “you get what you paid for”.

Become involved … and become part of the change.