And I am referring to the colonial territory known as the District of Columbia, if that’s unclear.
First, and this is minor, there is evidence of a ‘blue shift’: as the counting of first ranked votes proceeded, the more progressive candidates gained votes. Even in Democratic primaries (which are the de facto elections in D.C.), we see this pattern. Second, it’s probably for the best that Trump is experiencing narcissistic break* over the AlgalReflecting Pool, as it means he’s ignoring the sweep of progressive candidates–he had threatened to end Home Rule if the elections did not yield the results he wanted (though there is now a nontrivial chance his deranged mind will conclude that algae have something to do with Algeria, and try to bomb Algeria).
But one thing this election showed is that D.C. has changed a lot. Fifteen or more years ago, I think McDuffie wins this election**. D.C. has changed a lot, and I’m not (just) referring to the standard Black-white story you’ll read about in most punditry. There used to be a far more prominent Black middle class with ties to ‘old Washington’ institutions, especially the parallel institutions first founded in the era of Jim Crow and segregation. That particular iteration of D.C.’s Black middle class*** is waning and has lost significant power (quite simply, it’s aging). While it’s obvious why McDuffie did well in Ward 3 and parts of Ward 4, there is little discussion about why he also did well (or came very close) in the precincts in Wards 7 and 8 where that aging cohort still has some power and clout.
It would take an entire book to describe this phenomenon, but a key factor is that the old political and social institutions of D.C. are declining in power, and that is an important part of why Lewis George did well.
Anyway, now that there is a mayor more in line with the Council, it will be very interesting to see what happens next.
*Trump is now claiming that ‘antifa’ cut a 300 foot slice in the pool coating. Somehow, TEH ANTIFA SOOPERSOLDIERS managed to sneak past all of the National Guardsmen and federal agents stationed at the pool to do this…
**We’ll ignore the question of whether someone identifying as a democratic socialist could win, even though the democratic socialist is often to the right of someone like Elissa Silverman, who, while an independent for technical reasons, has always identified as a Democrat privately.
***There still is a Black middle class, it’s just very different.
mikethemadbiologist