Brooke Pinto wins special election for Ward 2 DC Council seat vacated by Jack Evans

Brooke Pinto has been declared the winner in the special election for the Ward 2 D.C. Council seat formerly held by Jack Evans — a position she will occupy at least until the end of the year. She might well serve longer than that — Pinto already won the Democratic primary for the seat June 2, defeating seven other contenders, and will run for the seat again in November. The 28-year-old Connecticut native moved to D.C. to attend Georgetown Law School six years ago, and worked in D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine’s office for several years after graduating. Pinto would go on to pick up endorsements from Racine, The Washington Post and two sitting members of Congress. She received more than 40% of the vote in the June 16 special election, with nearly 3,000 votes cast in her name.

“I am proud to have won the Special Election to fill the vacant Ward 2 Council seat for the rest of this term,” Pinto said on Twitter. “I look forward to working with all stakeholders, regardless of who you voted for, to ensure we can build a more equitable city together.” Ward 2 has been without a representative since Evans resigned amid a cloud of ethics violations in January. Evans, who filed to run in the primary to reclaim the Ward 2 seat just 10 days after resigning, was handily defeated, placing seventh out of eight candidates in the race. In heavily Democratic-leaning D.C., the winner of the June 2 primary is seen as the almost-certain winner for the seat in November. Pinto will take on Republican Katherine Venice in November. Venice got 4.59% of the vote in Tuesday’s special election. Pinto will become the third former member of Racine’s office to serve on the council, joining Ward 8 member Trayon White and At-Large member Robert White. Pinto will also be the youngest person ever to hold a seat on the council and the first woman to represent Ward 2.