The Site

Hi. My name is Martin Austermuhle, and beyond being a local politics buff, I'm a Senior Editor over at DCist.com.

I decided to put together this website for two reasons -- there isn't one place to go to get all the information you might need for the coming April 26 Special Election and, more worrisome, the District isn't going to be able to do much to advertise that it's even happening.*

Let's face it -- special elections are the bastard stepchildren of local democracy. We only just got done with a somewhat bruising mayoral campaign and election, and now everyone is being asked to put up with another few months of posturing and politicking so that District residents can elect an At-Large member of the D.C. Council to fill the seat once occupied by D.C Council Chair Kwame Brown.

There are currently 10 candidates for the position. They all have, or will have websites. And campaign signs. And pamphlets. And clever talking points. On top of that, there are countless journalists, bloggers, civic activists and organizations covering and/or interested in the election. I thought it would worth it to try and bring all of those together in one place.

It's likely even more important to do so now that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics may forgo printing and mailing out a Voter's Guide, the very document that would tip everyone off to the fact that there's an election coming and that there are 11 people contesting the open seat. If we don't all do our part in advertising the April 26 Special Election, we could well see dismal turnout -- and no one wants that.

This is of course a work in progress, and I'll do my best to keep updating this as often as possible. If you've got tips, content, links or resources to add, please send them along. This will turn out a whole lot better if it's not just me doing it.

*I fully realize that I'm guilty of a sin I'm attempting to correct. This site doesn't focus in on the Ward 4 and Ward 8 State Board of Education races, mostly because I had to start somewhere, and I didn't have much time. That's not to say that the info won't eventually make it on here...but that it's merely a work in progress.