Vincent Orange declared victory last night in the special election for D.C.'s at large-council seat.
The D.C. Board of Elections unofficial results gave Orange the victory with 28 percent of the vote. Final absentee and provisional ballots will come in over the next 10 days.
Twelve percent of registered voters turned out for the special election to pick a permanent replacement for Kwame Brown in the At-Large Council seat. Brown vacated the seat when he was tapped for Council Chair.
Sekou Biddle has been Brown's temporary replacement at the post. Biddle had received the endorsement of Mayor Vincent Gray and Kwame Brown in the special election, but finished third in the voting.
The lone Republican candidate, Patrick Mara, came in second in Tuesday's tallies, recording nearly 26 percent of the votes. Mara had received an endorsement from the Washington Post.
Late Tuesday, Orange said that his victory was a rejection of the current city leadership, the Washington Post reported. "Georgetown, downtown," Orange said, "Ward 7, Ward 8. They said: 'You need to back off. We want Orange.'"
In January, the D.C. Democratic State Committee passed him over in favor of Biddle to fill the temporary seat. Vincent Orange served 2 terms on the Council representing Ward 5, and has also been a mayoral candidate.
