Bye bye Carol

Carol Schwartz has lost the Republican primary to Patrick Mara. Mara won about 45% of the vote to Schwartz’s 36%. In the tiny Republican primary, that translates to only a bit over 700 total votes.

Schwartz was the worst Councilmember based on issues that matter to me. On transportation, she used to chair the Committee on Public Works and the Environment before Jim Graham. Schwartz’s main contribution to transportation was allowing more parking near corners and in front of entrances at night. Advocates of progressive transportation policies tell me they couldn’t get anything done when Schwartz was in charge.

Attention will quickly turn to November’s general election, where Mara will face off against “independents”, such as Michael Brown, who had been planning to campaign against Schwartz. Brown’s issue section still has no positions; we’ll find out his policy positions soon.

Whoever wins in November, Schwartz will be out of the Council in November, since it’s too late to pull a Lieberman, and City Desk says she won’t try a write-in campaign.

In the Democratic primary, Jack Evans won renomination over Cary Silverman, 48%-34%; Marion Barry won his primary with 77% of the vote, with Yvette Alexander and Muriel Bowser racking up similar numbers.