Here comes another special election for D.C. Council

Phil Mendelson will be sworn in as the eighth chairman of the D.C. Council on Thursday, a move expected to bring some stability to the body while also setting up yet another citywide special election for a vacant council seat.

Mendelson, 60, will take the oath in a small ceremony in the council chamber after the D.C Board of Elections certifies the results of the Nov. 6 general election.

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Mendelson (D) has served as acting chairman since June, when Kwame R. Brown (D) resigned the position. Brown pleaded guilty to bank fraud and campaign finance violations. Mendelson ran in the November special election to fill Brown’s seat, winning 71 percent of the vote against a little-known challenger.

Mendelson has served on the council since 1999 as an at-large member, and his elevation to chairman is expected to result in a relatively smooth transition.

But the council is still reeling from the resignations of Brown and Harry Thomas Jr. (D), the former Ward 5 member who is serving a 38-month prison term for stealing $350,000 from the city. The resignations have left the 13-member council with least one vacancy for all but a month since January.

“The swearing-in is an official step in a process that has already been obvious,” Mendelson said. “But . . . with the swearing-in, there is a clear demarcation from the troubles that have been plaguing the council and the beginning of reform.”

Yet the District must get through another election before the council returns to full strength, because Mendelson will give up his at-large seat when he’s sworn in as chairman.

The special election, likely to be held around April, is expected to put several politicians and activists back on the campaign trail.

Possible candidates

Possible candidates include Sekou Biddle (D), who has served on the school board and the D.C. Council; school board member Patrick Mara, who is a former Republican council candidate; former Prince George’s County Council member Peter Shapiro (D); and A.J. Cooper, who ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for the council this year.

Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large), who lost his bid for reelection in November after struggling with questions about his finances, is considering running in the special election. Nick T. McCoy, a local Democratic and gay rights activist who most recently worked for President Obama’s campaign in Virginia, is also expected to enter the race.

Before the special election, the 82-member D.C. Democratic State Committee will appoint a temporary replacement for Mendelson.

The appointment, to be decided Dec. 10, is already causing controversy because the leading contender to fill the seat is Anita Bonds, the longtime chairwoman of the Democratic State Committee.

Bonds’s history in city politics dates back to Marion Barry’s first run for school board in 1971. She also worked for former mayors Sharon Pratt and Anthony A. Williams. She is an executive at Fort Myer Construction, a major city contractor.

Bonds was not available to comment, but in past interviews with The Washington Post, she said she wants to join the council to focus on jobs and education.