Two candidates with ties to the Libertarian Party are poised to win seats on Washington, D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A after mounting write-in campaigns earlier this month. They were the only candidates in their respective races to officially register with the city ahead of time
According to the Washington City Paper this week, Bruce Majors and Dennis Sobin are considered “shoo-ins” for seats on the commission after filing the required initial paperwork with D.C.’s Board of Elections to be recognized as write-in candidates. This makes them the only eligible write-ins for their respective races within the ward. Final results are expected in early December.
“Even if each one only voted for himself, they’d still beat out any other write-ins because they’re the only ones registered,” reported the City Paper, citing confirmation from the Board of Elections.
Both Majors and Sobin are lifetime members of the national Libertarian Party. They have also run as Libertarian candidates in past elections, with Majors most recently seeking D.C.’s non-voting congressional delegate seat in 2022 and Sobin campaigning for mayor that same year. Additionally, both have run for various other positions within the city dating back multiple election cycles.
Majors also served as Chair of the Libertarian Party of the District of Columbia until at least 2022. Whether he actively continues in the role is unclear, as the party’s website, which still lists him as chair, has not been updated since 2022. Additionally, the national Libertarian Party’s website page on Washington, D.C. currently redirects to an inactive website.
In light of their likely wins, both candidates have faced criticism from current ANC 2A members. Concerns about Majors center on his use of social media and previous remarks, while Sobin has drawn negative attention for his past felony convictions and conflicts with his son, a D.C. government employee. Some ANC members have publicly stated they would refuse to work with either candidate if they assume office.
If they accept their seats, Majors and Sobin would join fellow lifetime Libertarian Party member and former Libertarian National Committee Chair Joe Bishop-Henchman in actively serving on an ANC. Earlier this month, Bishop-Henchman won reelection to his seat in Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5F, representing the Eckington and Edgewood neighborhoods.
* theory and practice, should be the other way around
@J.M. Jacobs
Washington DC stupidly enough has a unicameral legislative body, the Council of the District of Columbia, which is somewhere between a city council and a state legislature. The Advisory Neighborhood Commission advises this Council, as well as the DC mayor and their deputies, their departments, and DC’s multitude of unnecessary executive agencies).
In practice, that mostly comes down to recommending legislation and trying to involve themselves everywhere they are not needed or wanted by stirring up trouble and inventing non-issues to address. But in theory, ANC members also have sweeping power to spend public funds as well as private donations in their own wards with little to no oversight. In addition, the DC Council can grant the ANC further powers, so a lot of time is spent trying to extract such extensions of their power from the Council.
Congratulations.
What does the position entail?
“Some ANC members have publicly stated they would refuse to work with either candidate if they assume office.”
As opposed to all the uniparty crooks in DC and their use of social media and previous remarks, their past felony convictions, and their conflicts with their family members and with DC government employees? What pharisees! If they aren’t willing to work with others elected to the ANC, then they are the ones who should resign.
Congratulations to Libertarian Party candidates Bruce Majors and Dennis Sobin and the District of Columbia voters!