At approximately 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, after a protracted wait for results, the winners of the race for Greenbelt city council were announced. It will include two new members, both women – Danielle McKinney and Jennifer Pompi – making for a majority-woman council. All incumbents maintained their seats, with Emmett Jordan and Kristin Weaver likely to retain their position of mayor and mayor pro tem, respectively, and Rodney Roberts, Silke Pope and Ric Gordon also holding their seats.
It has been several decades since an incumbent lost their seat in a city council election and while no incumbent was displaced this time, the newly-elected challengers both garnered more votes than some of them (Pompi was the fourth highest vote-getter and McKinney the sixth).
First Woman of Color
McKinney will be the first woman of color to serve on council. “I am humbled and honored to be the first,” McKinney said Tuesday night. After waiting hours at the firehouse for the results, Pompi, who, like McKinney, was running for council for the first time, was moved to tears by the results. “I’m really looking forward to serving on council,” said Pompi.
Drawn-out Count
Several challengers and some incumbents had anxiously waited for the results. The screens at the firehouse displayed “Votes Are In” almost an hour before they were announced. Ric Gordon, who lost a bid for Council in 2017 before winning a seat in 2021, was particularly nervous. He noted that while Jordan and some others had gone through this many times, it was the first re-election campaign for him and Weaver. Part of the delay appeared to be difficulty in getting machines to read a small number of the ballots and then, after the announcement that votes were in, a rechecking of the numbers.
Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem
Jordan’s tally of 2024 votes (assuming tradition is followed and he is elected by his fellow councilmembers) will retain the position of mayor. Weaver was again the second highest vote-getter, with 1,743 and, in the same vein, may be expected to be elected mayor pro tem.
Referendum Question
Also on the ballot was a question about non-citizen voters, asking if residents of Greenbelt who are not citizens should be allowed to vote. The overwhelming response from voters was in favor, with almost twice as many in favor as opposed (1,580 yes to 793 no). Though the referendum was non-binding, it will inform the council’s decision on the matter, as the vote in favor of lowering the voting age to 16 did in the last election. “There’ll be a whole new group of voters in 2025,” commented Gordon.
Voting Statistics
A total of 2,663, people voted in the election, holding pretty steady from 2,675 in 2021. The percentage of registered voters voting also held almost steady from 17.8 percent in 2021 to 17.7 percent in this election. Of these 1,591 voted in-person on election day this year and 1,458 in 2021. (An error in this paragraph has been corrected.)
The new council will be sworn in at 7:30 p.m. on Monday evening.
