Courtesy: Patrick Madden

The scene outside one of the polling places in the District Tuesday.

Democrat and former D.C. Councilman Vincent Orange won D.C.’s special election to fill an At-Large council seat, besting opponents in a crowded field. The breakdown for this particular election seems to mirror what happened in the 2010 mayoral race: election returns showing a schism between the city’s majority white and black wards.

The unofficial results don’t give us numbers on the racial breakdown of voters, but they do show Orange won in all of the city’s majority black wards: Ward 4 (35 percent of votes) ,Ward 5 (55 percent of votes), Ward 7 (61 percent of votes), and Ward 8 (66 percent votes). Did the racial undertones of the campaign have an effect on the result? The Washington Post reports that Orange’s name-recognition helped him pull in votes:

On Tuesday, several residents said they voted for Orange because they thought he was experienced and they didn’t know enough about the other candidates.

“Rest of these guys, it’s their first time out,” said George Poynter, 87, who voted at Patterson Elementary School in Washington Highlands, in Ward 8. “We’d be right back where we started.”

Yet Orange struggled to win over voters in neighborhoods in the western part of the city, resulting in an electoral split similar to last year’s mayoral race, in which Gray unseated Adrian M. Fenty (D).

Two of those majority-white western wards — Wards 2 and 3 — were carried by Republican Patrick Mara, who also took majority-white Ward 6, while Democrat Bryan Weaver took his home Ward 1.

–The latest back-and-forth originated after Sunday when Democrat Vincent Orange was out in Ward 8, handing out fliers developed by a group of residents that included this statement: “He walks like us. He talks like us…” The incident led to some pondering over what it means to walk and talk like Orange, and also denouncements over such a tactic.

DC is making some progress. Race cards not drawn until final weekend of the election. Very sad to see that happen at all.

April 24, 2011 4:33 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@DaveStroup

Dave Stroup

– Democrat Sekou Biddle’s camp has no shortage of apologies. Last time, it was Biddle himself who dismissed Marshall Brown from his campaign over “hurtful” comments aimed at whites. Then on Sunday, Biddle adviser Dennis Jaffe took to Twitter to call Bryan Weaver’s campaign “white-centric.” Jaffe was quick to apologize and retract the statement. In both instances, campaigners weren’t speaking on behalf of Biddle.

– Some residents in Ward 5 are calling for people to take to the polls and vote for Orange, calling this election “the last time that folks of color will be able to determine our own ‘DC’ destiny…” And in case you forgot how many people of color live in D.C., here’s a quick reminder.

–Washington Examiner columnist Henry Harry Jaffe’s endorsement of Republican candidate Patrick Mara, in which he referred to Orange as “a captain in the old guard. He looks and sounds like a snake oil salesman” caused pause for some Orange supporters:

I don't cry "racism" easily but 2 say man w/4 degrees, former 2-term CM "looks like a snake oil salesman" sounds like devisive code#four26dc

April 23, 2011 11:06 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@lewissdaughter

Andrea Pringle

– Oh, and then there’s the actual day of the election, which falls on Passover and effectively prevents observant Jews from voting. A lawsuit against the city’s election board called their denial in extending voting hours to 10 p.m. discriminatory. Early voting did occur on Easter Sunday, allowing some Jewish residents to still cast ballots.