FBI of accepting bribes<\/a> in return for providing influence in the city\u2019s contract selection process. He maintains his innocence and pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to begin in January.<\/p>\nWhite went up against three other candidates for the seat \u2014 Salim Adofo, Mike Austin and Sheila Bunn. All three boast experience either working as staffers for D.C. Council members or in the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions \u2014 hyperlocal bodies that frequently serve as training grounds for future council members. Adofo lost to White in the 2024 Democratic primary, securing 28% of the vote.<\/p>\n
What comes next<\/p>\n
The victory by White places the D.C. Council in an immediate quandary: They could expel White again, despite the will of the Ward 8 voters, or they could simply carry on with him among their ranks again.<\/p>\n
The other council members have the authority to expel White for a second time once he\u2019s sworn in and takes back his seat.<\/p>\n
At the time of White\u2019s expulsion, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said \u201cbribery
of elected officials is quintessential corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one agrees that expulsion is the same as disenfranchisement, and I don\u2019t agree with that, then it would still be disenfranchisement if we waited a year and there was a conviction. And it begs the question, are we to do nothing?\u201d Mendelson said.<\/p>\n
Before polls closed<\/p>\n
Charles Crews III was at the library encouraging voters to reelect White. He said despite the bribery case, he believes White should be Ward 8\u2019s voice on the council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that he\u2019s done a lot for the community, for the people,\u201d Crews said.<\/p>\n
Melissa Green-Peterson, a lifelong Ward 8 resident, said she believes it\u2019s time for a change in direction and cast her ballot for one of White\u2019s three challengers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t think that he was ready for the position. I think that he has some growing and learning to do, respect for the office,\u201d Green-Peterson said.<\/p>\n
Also at the polling site was former Ward 8 Council member LaRuby May, who voted in support of Mike Austin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually really unfortunate that we have to be here to have a special election to use the resources that our city and that our ward really need,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n
Austin worked for May when she was in office, and on this special election day, she was urging voters to give him a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s been focused on us, and we need that focus. And again, I believe Mike is the person to bring that focus,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n
Andrea Davis is putting her support behind candidate Sheila Bunn, and said it\u2019s not because of White\u2019s federal case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t choose Trayon, not because of the FBI investigation, but because I did not see him representing us in the community,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired, I\u2019m amped, a mix of emotions. But today is the day, and I pray that Ward 8 makes the right decision,\u201d Bunn told WTOP\u2019s Mike Murillo.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u00a9 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Tuesday, D.C. residents cast their vote for the next Ward 8 council member. The special election comes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,12881,12882,12883,3,12884,21,19,22,20,25,24,12885],"class_list":["post-13239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-dc-council","tag-dc-special-election","tag-mike-murillo","tag-news","tag-trayon-white","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-ward-8"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}