D.C. Councilmember and Georgetown alum David Catania (I-At Large)(SFS ‘90, LAW ‘94) made headlines in 2009 as the man behind the District’s same-sex marriage legalization bill. But Catania, whose third term will end this year, has been keeping mum on whether or not he’ll run for re-election in November, leading some local politics fans to wonder whether the marriage equality victory might be his swan song.

It looks like the speculation can finally come to an end, though: Catania has told “several close supporters” to assume he’ll be running, according to Washington City Paper. City Paper and D.C. Wire also report that Catania will be making an official announcement in mid-January.

In addition to writing and championing the recently-passed same-sex marriage bill, Catania has spent much of his time on the Council working on health care and insurance issues. As of now there is only one challenger for Catania’s seat, Congress Heights minister and civic activist Anthony Motley.

Photo from Flickr user dbking, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tracy Flick for GUSA Senate!

SPECIAL ELECTION RESULTS: The election commission ran a successful special election that culminated in the election of the following senators:

• Townhouses: Matthew Ginsberg with 35 votes
• Harbin 6-9: Clara Gustafson with 46 votes
• Copley: Shaalin Parekh with 52 votes
• Village A E-H: Nolan Johnson with 15 votes

The only apparent glitch was that students in the districts received “about three emails or so” for ballots because of a problem with Hoyamail, according to the election commissioners. Nick Troiano (COL ’11—Village A A-D) thanked the election commissioners for running such an impressive election, compared to last year’s chaotic special elections.

The election commissioners noted there were far more candidates per capita for the special election than the actual election. The Harbin seat had nine candidates, the Copley seat had seven candidates, the Townhouses seat had five candidates, and the Village A seat had three candidates. They said in the normal election, there were 35 candidates running for 34 seats, whereas in this election, there were 24 candidates running for four seats.

GUSA President Calen Angert (MSB ’11) attributed the peak in interest to run for GUSA Senate to the timing of the elections.

“You have to have the Senate in place at a certain time, and I think students don’t have their lives together until a certain time,” Angert said. “I think this was a very good indicator of why there wasn’t a good turnout [of candidates] at the start and why there was a good turnout now. There wasn’t any additional advertisement.”

The new senators agreed with Angert’s reasoning and added that the seats seemed more accessible because no one had the elections “wrapped up.”

GEORGETOWN FUND PLANS: Angert told the Senate there was “nothing super new to report on,” but the senators wanted to hear more about the executive’s plans for the proposed GUSA Georgetown Fund. Angert said the current plans are only a rough outline that have not yet been sent to the Finances and Appropriations Committee, but the Senate discussed several aspects of the potential Georgetown Fund.

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Four more years!

228,062 people, or 53.44 percent of registered D.C. voters, flooded the polls yesterday for the Nov. 4th general elections, and the D.C. Board of Election & Ethics handled them with less difficulty than we expected. This morning, DCBOEE posted unofficial election results, complete with an At-Large surprise:

92.46 percent of D.C. voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama (D)–who won the whole thing last night, by the way.

Voters ushered Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) back to her seat as Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives with a handy 92.32 percent of votes. She’ll be joined on the Hill by Shadow Representative Mike Panetta (D) and Shadow Senator Paul Strauss (D)-because like Alaskan voters, D.C. voters think a little legal trouble ain’t no thing.

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It’s election day, and that means giveaways, including free Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s. Georgetown clubs will also be giving away free food, but if you don’t keep a tight schedule you can’t take advantage of all the freebies. Follow this dinnertime guide and finally, we’ll know where those mysterious SAC funds went–right into your stomach.

6:00-7:00

College Democrats, Sellinger Lounge

The Dems are getting started at 6, before the other two parties start. If this Dems election watch is like most, it’ll be simple but filling–big soda bottles and pizza. The pizza will probably arrive in between 6 and 7, at which point you should dive because it’s gone fast at earlier election parties. If you go crazy and grab a box, you’re set for the night!

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If you’re registered to vote in DC, there are already way too many things you won’t be seeing on your ballot this November. That’s why Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E commissioner and local architect Bill Skelsey deserves a kick in the pants for failing to file the paperwork necessary to get his name on the ballot on time. In a message to members of the ANC’s Yahoo group “Georgetown Forum,” Skelsey wrote:

 ”Due to my work schedule, I unfortunately missed the filing dealine to officially put my name on the ballot. When you are at the polls on Nov. 2, if you live in District 03 there will be no ANC candidate listed on your voting card or electronic screen. Please know that I am running as a Write-In candidate.” (ANC 2E’s District 03 runs lies between Wisconsin and the University, and N Street and Volta place.)

Skelsey, who in his last term dabbled in off-campus keg bans, gets points for announcing his write-in candidacy with less obnoxious aplomb than Carol Schwartz, but not much else. Five other commissioners with full-time jobs (Skelsey is an architect), and one Georgetown student, all managed to file their paperwork on time–one wonders why being an architect makes that so hard.

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Jack Evans, Georgetown’s councilman, is facing off against Cary Silverman in September’s Democratic primary. He’ll need to pull out all the stops to beat Silverman, so he’s asking for a little help from the ladies. From an email invitation to one of Jack’s fundraising parties last week:

“We have given out over 150 free tickets to some high quality women. Please come have some drinks, food, and support Jack.”

Emphasis mine. Either Jack had the women seduce partygoers, then blackmail them for more campaign cash, or he’s matched the women with his donors using a careful formula invented by Dr. Neal Clark Warren. They’ll have kids, and those kids, owing Evans their existence, will feel obligated to donate to him in 2027 for his next campaign.

Flickr photo from user Fashion Fights Poverty DC used under a Creative Commons license. Via City Desk.

Look at it. Councilman Jack Evans’s Ward 2 (which includes Georgetown) re-election website is so bad, the many things wrong with it can only be understood with a list:

• Red text over a glowing blue background, all inconsistently capitalized
• An unreadable volunteer page 
• A nonexistent list of issues
• The finest “I Back Jack” slogan WordArt provides
• “Make our neighborhoods More Safe“

It’s so bad I wouldn’t be surprised to find out someone put it up to embarrass Evans. Campaign treasurer Dennis Bass should be suitably punished.

Meanwhile, opponent Cary Silverman’s website has a soothing green background and a regularly-updated blog.

“See you guys later! “

Flickr photo from Fashionfightspovertydc used under a Creative Commons license

Update: An elected official has agreed (off the record) with this post’s sentiments. The movement to save Jack Evans from internet Jack Evans is gaining momentum.

First it was the war in Iraq, then Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay. Now, it’s Tom Foley, who’s been struggling to find an acceptable excuse for his behavior—alcoholism, the priest that supposedly molested him as a child. For the moment, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Even George Will is predicting big things for the Democrats in the upcoming elections. He even compared Foley, and the Republican Party, to Elmer Gantry, the sanctimonius firebrand Preacher and title character of an Upton Sinclair novel.

What’s left for Republicans to do? Well, the New York Times is warning of a possible anti-gay witch hunt on Capitol Hill. Our beloved Pat Buchanan (COL ‘61) took the first step down that road on MSNBC earlier this week.

The key quote: “Is it a coincidence that 90 percent of the victims of the priests and the other folks who abuse those altar boys and others, 90 percent of the victims were boys, 90 percent of the perpetrators were men?”

Here’s hoping that, if the Republicans don’t take the high road, it blows up in their face.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer

D.C. is voting for a new mayor Tuesday, and it’s pretty much the only thing I’ve been thinking about for the past two weeks (shameless self-promotion alert). Here are a couple of things to chew on before the polls open:

1. The Washington Post’s endorsement: I’m not offering my own opinion, but the Post is a good paper. Of course, their editorial board has been a little loco lately, what with their Lieberman endorsement and all, and they also once endorsed Marion Barry. Lesson: draw your own opinions. But, hey, the Post is a good paper. Just saying.

2. A Washington Post op-ed running today (Monday) about how and why they endorse candidates. You may use this to illuminate your reading of the previous piece.

Also, for propriety’s sake, I should let you know I worked for Washington Post-Newsweek Interactive this summer. Still, it is a good paper. Despite me.

Posted by Mike Stewart, Feature Editor