Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Four Republicans Run for Council

District Republicans will run in all four elections for D.C. Council ward seats this November, according to the District of Columbia’s Office of Campaign Finance.

No Republicans currently sit on the council, and in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 8-1, Republican candidates are working to distinguish themselves from more right-leaning Republicans at the national level.

Of the eight wards in the District, only seats representing four wards are currently up for election. Timothy Day, Marc Morgan, David Hedgepeth and Jim DeMartino have said that they will run in Wards 5, 1, 3 and 6, respectively.

All four Republican candidates said that they were running to address local issues and were not closely tied to the platform of national Republican candidates. All the candidates are running on platforms of improving public education and decreasing crime rates in their wards.

arc Morgan, running on a platform of environmental protection, describes himself as a “new age republican.”

“[The election is] not so much a referendum on the national side, it’s a referendum on the local side,” Morgan said.

Representatives from on-campus political groups offered differing opinions on the implications of a Republican victory in the D.C. Council elections this November.

Kevin Preskenis, GU Republicans chief of staff, said that a single Republican victory would indicate a shifting national tide favoring Republican candidates.

“If we were to get one republican on that council, it would take a precedent [like that] of Scott Brown taking Ted Kennedy’s seat -1 it would send a message that people of all parties and ideologies are dissatisfied with how the country is being run,” Preskenis said.

Bryan Woll, president of GU College Democrats, said that the platforms of the Republican candidates in the D.C. elections align more closely with those of national Democrats than with those of national Republicans.

“The candidates running in D.C. are not reflective of Republican candidates throughout the country,” Woll said. “Marc Morgan described himself as a pro-environment, moderate Republican candidate. Because of their policies, almost all, if not all of the candidates running for D.C. City Council would be considered Democrats in any other race outside of D.C.”

Petitions to appear on the primary ballot will be available for circulation starting May 14.

– Elizabeth Schieffelin contributed to this report.”

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