Close to 1,000 Georgetown students headed to the polls Tuesday to choose from seven candidates running in the Sept. 10 primary.
The winner of the Democratic primary remains undetermined at this time.
The two leading candidates, current Mayor Anthony Williams and the Reverend Willie Wilson, were both write-in candidates. Consequently, the vote count will take considerably longer than usual.
A spokesperson for D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics said that the process may not be completed for up to a week.
According to the latest results, Williams has a 2-1 lead over Wilson, his closest opponent.
Williams’ Press Secretary Ann Walker Marchant expressed confidence in her candidate’s victory. “We are very enthusiastic about Mayor Williams’ chances of being re-elected and we are glad that D.C. voters made their decision based on his record,”she said.
The mayoral primary pitted Williams, a well-funded candidate, against Wilson, a popular Anacostia minister. Earlier in his term, Williams’ decision to shut down D.C. General Hospital was unpopular with many D.C. citizens. Supporters of Wilson believe that this may work in their candidate’s favor.
Both Williams and Wilson are running on write-in campaigns due to their failure to comply with D.C. election laws.
Wilson’s campaign did not turn in the required number of signatures by the imposed deadline. Williams’ campaign was fined $277,000 and barred from being placed on the official ballot by examiners who found that more than half of the signatures on his petition were forged, and included the signatures of deceased persons and non-D.C. residents.
Campaign Georgetown has been the most active campus group in educating students about the Sept. 10 primary.
Last Monday, Campaign Georgetown sponsored a speech on campus by Williams.
“The Mayor actually contacted us,” said Campaign Georgetown Co-Chair Drew Johnson-Skinner (CAS ‘04). “He knew we had 1,000 students registered to vote in D.C. ? [so] he needed to pick up some votes.”
