jonetta rose barras: Another cloaked and messy week in the DC government

Even before at-large DC Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie announced his resignation last month, everyone inside the John A. Wilson Building knew it was coming, especially his staff. But what did the general public — the taxpayers who fund the government — know? Not much.

Some may have heard that by law only a registered independent could be appointed to temporarily fill the vacancy created by McDuffie’s departure before the end of his term. In the absence of an official political party to make that interim appointment, the required selection fell to Council Chair Phil Mendelson with confirmation by the legislature.

According to Mendelson, the names of more than 40 people made it to the list he and his colleagues pondered. Some folks nominated themselves; others were recommended by another person. 

The nearly 85,000 voters who are registered as independents in the District, including myself, never got to see the names on that list. No long-standing independent was even asked to serve in an advisory capacity to develop criteria that would be used for the selection.

Independents in DC keep getting the short shrift. Many of them signed petitions and voted in support of Initiative 83 because they wanted the city’s primary elections to become open. That citizen ballot measure was approved. However, the June 2026 primaries will remain closed, with only party members able to participate. Only ranked choice voting, the other aspect of the initiative, will be implemented.

During a press briefing earlier this week, Mendelson essentially admitted there wasn’t outside consultation during deliberations related to McDuffie’s replacement. Mendelson and his colleagues also didn’t rely on any specific written standards or qualifications. On his part it was mostly “subjective judgment,” he said. 

Government and politics in DC have increasingly become an insiders’ game. Elected officials have distanced themselves from the people they claim to represent, too often making important decisions behind closed doors or using emergency resolutions and legislation to circumvent public scrutiny. 

Providing indisputable evidence of that fact, the council on Tuesday approved Doni Crawford, staff director of McDuffie’s Committee on Business and Economic Development, to temporarily assume the at-large seat until a special election on June 16.

At the press briefing before her appointment, Crawford told reporters that she had switched her voter registration from the Democratic Party to non-party or independent only a few months ago. When I asked why, she said, “I wanted to ensure I would be eligible” to apply for the position.

As a registered independent, I do not take kindly to fake political designations; staffers angling to be politicians; or emerging and established politicians acting as if sharing facts and truth with the public is some kind of harmful thing. 

I am certain other residents share my dissatisfaction.

Patrick Mara, chair of the local Republican Party, criticized the council’s handling of the selection for being conducted “behind closed doors and in direct violation of the intent of the law.”

“That seat exists to ensure representation for minority parties, such as Republicans, not for a last-minute party switch by a lifelong Democrat who conveniently re-registered only months ago in anticipation of this vacancy,” continued Mara in a prepared statement released Tuesday after the council’s unanimous vote to confirm Crawford.

“This kind of political gamesmanship further highlights a broader problem: the DC Council has become an increasingly far-left body that does not reflect the views or values of the District’s residents. The Council itself is in need of structural reform, including moving all local offices to nonpartisan elections, as is done in an overwhelming majority of American cities.”

No disrespect to Crawford, but she is the insider’s insider. Closely reviewing her resume, she strikes me as a strategic and ambitious player. 

That assessment was underscored when Crawford discussed why she sought the position, saying she felt ready to come to the front of the council dais. “I want to be the one to make the decisions, to make the investments,” she said.

Crawford arrived at the Wilson Building less than four years ago, in March 2022, to serve as McDuffie’s senior policy adviser. By May she was legislative director; in January 2025, she became the staff director of the committee McDuffie chaired until his resignation took effect on Jan. 5. 

Perhaps more important, Crawford worked for the DC Fiscal Policy Institute for over three years prior to coming to the council. It is a far-left-leaning local advocacy organization with a booming voice; many legislators genuflect before it while seeking its blessings when introducing fiscal and social policies. Further, it has been one of the lead nonprofits encouraging the council each year to spend more money and to impose a so-called wealth tax on higher-income residents — never mind that it’s the money from their income and property taxes that is already financing significant portions of government programs and services.

Mendelson claimed he and his council colleagues were more concerned with qualifications in making their selection as “opposed to ideology or someone aligned with this group or that member.” He said they wanted the person they thought “was best for the council.”

Asked multiple times on Monday whether she intends to run for McDuffie’s seat, Crawford demurred: “Today I want to focus on the vote tomorrow.”

Bridges are being sold at the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. 

It’s not only elected officials; the entire government has become allergic to sunshine. The DC Board of Elections has the disease — although it may have had it long before the legislature.

Mara complained that the council, before choosing one of its favorite staffers to elevate to councilmember, has in recent months “layered on sweeping election changes, including ranked-choice voting, without adequately preparing voters, while still allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote in local elections.” 

Last week, the Elections Board passed emergency rules for the upcoming elections during which ranked choice voting will take effect. According to the board, those rules “shall remain in effect until Thursday, May 14, 2026 (one hundred and twenty (120) days from the adoption date), unless superseded by publication of a Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register.”

The Elections Board has scheduled the rules to be published in the Register today, Jan. 23. It’s unclear whether the “final rulemaking” will be any different or whether the public will have a legitimate opportunity to weigh in prior to permanent adoption.

The rules as posted last week on BOE’s website heightened concerns raised repeatedly by voting rights advocates and civic leaders working with vulnerable populations in DC. 

These observers cited one example of a voter marking their first choice for a particular office on the ballot, but then ranking only a fourth and fifth choice, failing to rank someone in second or third place. In that scenario, the voter has failed to rank sequentially; based on the current rules, the voter’s ballot could be considered “inactive” beyond the first-choice tabulation. 

An inactive ballot may be discarded when tabulating the rest of the results for that office, according to the rules. They don’t make clear whether that would then invalidate the rest of the ballot — truly a glaring and troubling omission.

Elections Board Executive Director Monica Evans and General Counsel Terri Stroud declined my requests for interviews by Jan. 19. I extended my deadline to noon the next day; they did not reply to my emails. 

Through their spokesperson, Sarah Graham, I sent them several written questions: What happens if a voter ranks their first, second and third choices in a field where there are five or more choices — would the sequential rule apply? Will a system be established so voters might learn whether their ballots were considered inactive and therefore not counted? And how will a voter, candidate or resident file a complaint or register any objections to the published RCV rules?

Neither Graham, nor Evans nor Stroud answered any of those questions.

In the 2024 primary, 98,221 ballots were cast citywide; 70,687 of those were by mail or special ballots. In-person voting totaled 27,534. 

Tens of thousands of DC residents will be affected by these RCV rules that many of them will never see or read until they get their ballots in their hands.

The Elections Board has scheduled a few informational sessions — including a town hall being convened on Jan. 31 from 10 a.m. to noon by Councilmember Anita Bonds — but they are taking place with the emergency rules already in place. In a brief conversation with me last week, Bonds admitted that the rules are “confusing.”

David Meadows, the Democratic Party’s Ward 8 committeeman, told me he is worried. “I have seen as a poll watcher on plenty of occasions, especially in Ward 8, seniors come to vote and [ask] where is Marion Barry’s name,” he offered as an example of the situations that can arise. In those instances, someone helped them find his name. Other times, maybe not.

“They mistakenly mark their ballots,” said Meadows, who also posted his concerns about the rules on X. Some of the people who responded were incredulous.

Meadows argued that there is no reason that the Elections Board has to discard any ballots. If they are willing to overlook one skipped ranking, they should be able to do the same for two. 

Citing reports documenting the first ranked choice mayoral election in New York City, Meadows talked about how two of the candidates cross-endorsed each other, resulting in one coming fairly close to winning. Eric Adams ultimately prevailed in that election, however. “I am encouraging everyone to rank and if you’re a candidate to coordinate [or cross-endorse] with someone else,” added Meadows.

Asked whether he has ever read the rules related to voting before now, he said, “I didn’t even know there were rules other than signing your name” on a mail-in ballot.

When I asked Mendelson whether he had read the Elections Board’s rules for RCV, he said no. Continuing the conversation after his press briefing, he told me the council can disapprove rules. “We can do almost anything by [legislation],” he explained.

Then, he predicted what many others, including some RCV supporters, have predicted: “I think there is going to be a lot of upset on election day.”

At least, he spoke this truth out loud. 

jonetta rose barras is an author and DC-based freelance journalist, covering national and local issues. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.