As Election Day draws closer, political candidates in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area working feverishly to get people to vote for them and elections officials are dealing with what appears to be heavy early voter turnout.
On Oct. 27, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was hard at work at the Largo Town Center Metro Station talking with commuters and handing out literature. Van Hollen, who is the Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate, told the AFRO that he is going to “go strong” until Election Day, which is Nov. 8.
“There are a few days left until the election ends and I am going all over the state to talk to people about what is at stake,” Van Hollen said. “I think a lot of people will be glad when this election is over with. I am also urging people to vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.”
Anthony Brown is the Democratic nominee for Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District. (Courtesy Photo)
Van Hollen wasn’t the only candidate working Prince George’s County. Former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives seat that was vacated by Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and he too was engaging voters.
“I am out here working,” Brown told the AFRO on Oct. 28. “I have been traveling to North Carolina to talk up Hillary Clinton and I am campaigning here to make sure that I win my own race.”
While Van Hollen and Brown face Republican and other third party opponents, they are expected to win easily because Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the state, 2 to 1, and in Prince George’s County 4 to 1, respectively.
Early voting appears to have been a success in Prince George’s County. Maryland Board of Elections officials say that Prince George’s first day of early voting, Oct. 27, is up 101 percent this year from 2012.
Early voting in Maryland ends on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. and there are nine centers throughout Baltimore City.
There is also a flurry of campaign and voting activity in the District of Columbia. At stake in the District are two at-large positions on the D.C. Council races in Wards 2, 4, 7 and 8, in addition to an at-large D.C. State Board of Education race, there are contested races for that board in Wards 7 & 8 and all of the advisory neighborhood commissioners positions are in play.
D.C. Council members Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) and Ward 8 Democratic candidate Trayon White are running unopposed while former D.C. Mayor and council chairman Vincent Gray (D) is running for re-election as a Ward 7 council member with no serious opposition. D.C. Council members Robert White (D-At Large) and David Grosso (I-At Large) have significant advantages in winning election and re-election, respectively.
Marcus Batchelor is running for the Ward 8 D.C. State Board of Education seat. (Courtesy Photo)
Todd told the AFRO that he is going to be campaigning for re-election as if he had an opponent. “I never hesitate to engage the voters of Ward 4,” the council member said. “I want to touch every single voter. We need to have a strong turnout in Ward 4.”
Robert White is a Democrat who is a shoo-in because of the city’s 10 to 1 Democratic registration over Republicans and no Democrat who has run at-large in the city has lost. Grosso has a substantial fundraising and campaign operation that overshadows the Republican, Statehood-Green and independent candidates.
There has been a lot of activity in the Ward 8 race for board of education. Ward 8 D.C. State Board of Education candidate Markus Batchelor has been endorsed by Trayon White, Robert White and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D).
“I believe that Markus is an excellent choice to represent us as the new school board representative. He has shown a consistent commitment over the years, serving on the front lines in Ward 8 in various capacities. Join me in showing your support for Markus Batchelor,” Trayon White, who served as the ward’s representative on the board of education from 2011-2015, said.
Batchelor is facing incumbent Tierra Jolly, who has been endorsed by outgoing Ward 8 D.C. Council member LaRuby May (D), Grosso, Evans and the Washington Teachers’ Union. Ward 7 Board of Education member Karen Williams has been endorsed for re-election by the Washington Teachers’ Union while facing educator Marla Dean and longtime activist Dorothy Douglas.
Early voting in the District started on Oct. 22 and ends on Nov. 4.
In addition to candidates, there will be referendums on the ballot in Maryland and the District. In Prince George’s County, voters will be asked to decide whether to expand the county council to two at-large seats and in the city, voters will decide on whether to support D.C. statehood.