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Tens of thousands of votes have yet to be counted, but here in D.C., we have an idea of who won most of the contests. As of 12:21 p.m. on Nov. 4, the DC Board Of Elections had counted more than 273,600 ballots.

Some races are easy to call. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris easily won D.C., garnering 92.68 percent of the reported vote. Donald Trump and Mike Pence received just 5.15 percent of the vote. (Trump and Pence did perform better in D.C. in 2020 than they did in 2016.) 

Eleanor Holmes Norton easily won her delegate seat with 86.89 percent of the vote. Paul Strauss will keep his shadow senator seat, and Oye Owolewa is the new shadow representative. Both have more than 80 percent of the vote according to the latest count. (The shadow delegation typically dedicates their time to fighting for statehood.)

D.C. appears to have made the non-commercial use of “entheogenic plants and fungi” or magic mushrooms and other psychedelic substances a lowest level priority for the Metropolitan Police Department. More than 173,400 people, or 76.3 percent of the recorded vote, voted in favor of Initiative 81. Notably, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was voting against the ballot initiative because she saw it as “not an organically D.C.-created initiative.”

The at-large Council race is harder to call. There are two open seats. Robert White appears to have kept his seat, earning 25.82 percent of the reported vote. He declared victory during a virtual watch party and planned to celebrate by breaking in a new bottle of bourbon. As for the second seat, Christina Henderson, a former staffer for At-Large Councilmember David Gross and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumner, is in the lead with 15.07 percent of the vote. She is followed by Vincent Orange, a former D.C. councilmember and former president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, who has 12.11 percent of the vote. 

If either Henderson or Orange wins, the Council will be majority Black for the first time since 2012. But whoever takes the second seat will win with a small percentage of the total vote. Some might view the narrow margin of victory as a case for ranked choice voting. 

Jacque Patterson, an administrator at the KIPP DC charter school network, also looks to have won the at-large race for the DC State Board of Education, with 32.4 percent of the reported vote. Mysiki Valentine, who was championed by D.C.’s progressive bloc, came in behind Patterson and received 19.16 percent of the vote. 

The DCBOE will count votes through Nov. 13, and will continue to update until results are certified. Read more about the election results HERE.  
—Amanda Michelle Gomez (tips? agomez@washingtoncitypaper.com)

Correction: This post inaccurately said that the D.C. Council would be a majority Black for the first time in decades. But it was the election of At-Large Councilmember David Grosso who pushed the White members into a majority.

  • As of Nov. 4, D.C. reported one death and 77 new cases, bringing the total number of people to 647 and 17,601, respectively. Metrics continue to trend in the wrong direction. [EOM]
  • D.C. did not see the political unrest officials and businesses expected last night. [Post]
  • Protests continue this morning at Black Lives Matter Plaza. [Twitter]
  • The number of homicides in D.C. officially surpassed last year’s count, reaching the highest total in more than a decade. [DCist]

By Amanda Michelle Gomez (tips? agomez@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Catch up on our dispatches from Election Day: 
    • Christina Henderson wants to introduce ranked choice voting if she wins. [WCP]
    • Ed Lazere was confident going into Election Day, but has conceded the race. [WCP, Twitter]
    • Mónica Palacio and Franklin Garcia were among the five Latinx candidates seeking to diversify the Council. [WCP]
    • Markus Batchelor just couldn’t break through. [WCP]

By Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Consumers are buying alcohol online using these apps. [Post]
  • The fast-casual restaurant sector is a bright spot in a struggling restaurant scene. [WBJ]
  • How restaurant dress codes target Black diners. [Eater]

By Laura Hayes (tips? lhayes@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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  • Observations: Selected Works by Jamilah Sabur at the University of Maryland Art Gallery explores a host of landscapes, both real and metaphorical. [Post]
  • As the counting of ballots drags on, this list of soothing things to do during the election is still relevant. [Washingtonian]
  • EDM events promoter Insomniac has acquired D.C.’s dance music promoter Club Glow and venues Echostage and Soundcheck. [EDM.com]

By Emma Sarappo (tips? esarappo@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Maryland will soon join its neighbors, D.C. and Virginia, in having legalized sports betting after residents voted for the referendum. [The Hill]
  • The Washington Football Team didn’t do anything by the NFL trade deadline yesterday. And for that, the team deserves credit, writes NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay. [NBC Sports Washington]
  • Former Mystics head coach Nancy Darsch has died after battling Parkinson’s disease. She was 68. [ESPN]

By Kelyn Soong (tips? ksoong@washingtoncitypaper.com)