That didn’t take long. Brandon Todd hasn’t been Ward 4’s councilmember-elect for 48 hours, and he already reversed a position he took during the campaign.

As Muriel Bowser‘s chosen replacement in her old seat, Todd will be key to the mayor’s agenda at the D.C. Council. That includes the failed effort to give the D.C. Jail healthcare contract to controversial Tennessee operator Corizon, should Bowser try to push it again after a 6-5 loss earlier this month.

At the LL Debate, Todd said he would “probably not” vote in favor of Corizon winning the contract. LL noted that Todd would likely have to change that opinion after winning if he was going to stay on Bowser’s good side.

Now, Todd really has changed his position. On WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show yesterday, Todd had a very different opinion about the Corizon contract. While running, Todd favored Corizon’s minority partner getting the contract instead (which isn’t really an option), but now he thinks the Council shouldn’t even play a role in awarding the jail contract.

“I personally do believe that we should leave contracting and procurement to contracting and procurement professionals,” Todd said.

That’s exactly the line taken by Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who ended up voting for the contract when it was up earlier this month. Todd has gone from an activist take on the Corizon contract to a backer of the Office of Contracting and Procurement’s judgment, all within the space of a few weeks.

“I don’t think that we should put politics in the contracting and procurement process,” Todd says.

Apparently being elected really does change a person, even in the course of a few hours. Todd’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery