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Board of Elections Announces Process for Filling the ANC’s Vacancy for District 2B04

Following the retirement of former Commissioner Michael Upright, last Friday the DC Board of Elections published the process for filling the vacancy for district 2B04 in the DC Register. Any resident of district 2B04, a map of which can be found here, who has an interest in running for the vacant seat can visit the Board of Elections at 441 4th Street NW, Suite 250 North to pick up petitions to run for the seat. Residents must collect the signatures of at least 25 voters registered in district 2B04 in order to run for the seat. The beginning of the petition pick-up period was on Monday, January 9th, and the completed petitions are due back to the Board of Elections by Monday, January 30th.

Following the submission period for the petitions, there will be a challenge period from Thursday, February 2nd to Wednesday, February 8th where residents will have the ability to challenge individual signatures on a candidate’s petitions. If only one candidate completes the challenge period, that candidate will become the new commissioner for district 2B04. If more than one candidate completes the challenge period, a special election will be held at an upcoming ANC meeting to elect the new commissioner.

A copy of the vacancy notice that was published in the DC Register can be found here. For more information about this election process, please call the Board of Elections at (202) 727-2525.

Meet ANC 2B’s New Commissioners

ANC 2B would like to welcome two new commissioners for the commission’s 2017-2018 term. On November 8th Randy Downs was elected as the Commissioner for district 2B05, succeeding former Commissioner Abigail Nichols, and Scott Davies was elected as the Commissioner for district 2B09, succeeding former Commissioner Noah Smith.

randy-photoRandy Downs, a native of rural Missouri, started advocating for social and environmental causes at a young age. Through his early work as a community organizer, Randy successfully elected progressive candidates across the state and advanced initiatives to strengthen labor standards and campaign finance rules, improve safety and healthcare, and lift up young and working families.

In 2011, Randy moved to Washington, DC to join the Sierra Club as Campaign Representative. In his role, Randy has trained thousands of community organizers across the country, fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and successfully fought to build grassroots support for policies to combat climate change and protect the health of our communities. And when he was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, Randy fought his way to remission using the same motivation and focus that he’s used in his advocacy.

Randy has lived in Dupont Circle for five years with his longtime partner Dylan and volunteers at many nearby organizations like Whitman-Walker Health, the Smith Cancer Center for Healing and the Arts, and the DC Center for the LGBT Community.

scott-proScott Davies, a native of Melbourne, Florida, has been a resident of the District for over 14 years. In his professional life, he is the Director of the Office of Marine Highways and Passenger Services at the Maritime Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation, responsible for port infrastructure development and financing as well as commercial freight and passenger development on the marine highway system throughout the United States.

On the weekends, Scott dedicates his time to his Navy Reserve career, where he is a Commander, and to City Dogs Rescue, where he’s been able to apply his skills as a licensed private pilot to fly dogs from high-kill shelters to their forever homes in the DC metropolitan area. You can also find him out on the slopes skiing in the winter and out on the water and bike trails in the summer.

Scott is a graduate of the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Transportation. He is also a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer with an unlimited tonnage Third Mate’s license, a licensed private pilot, and is a Commander in the U.S. Navy. He lives on Swann Street with his husband.

Randy and Scott were sworn-in with their fellow commissioners on January 2nd, and are looking forward to advocating on behalf of their constituents and the entire Dupont Circle community.