"I am surprised," Mendelson said. "Clearly, there's something going on in the aggregate results. This is not a ward-specific result. There's something we're missing."
Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who ran unopposed Tuesday, quarreled with that analysis, contending that each race had its own dynamics. In Ward 8, for instance, Cropp pointed out: "Sandy was running against an icon. Nobody can compete with that."
"Clearly, there is a message being sent here," D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams said of the votes.
(Jay Westcott -- The Washington Post)
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Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), who also ran unopposed, said that if there is a broad message for the council, it might be a simple one. The incumbents -- veterans with a combined 34 years of council service and powerful committee posts -- together raised more than $700,000 and vastly outspent their opponents, he said.
"But this election makes crystal clear," Fenty said, "that you can't become so powerful that you stop paying attention to the voters."
If council members start listening more closely to their constituents, Fenty predicted, the council's course will change.
"I don't think we would pass legislation to give money to the Corcoran Gallery," he said, referring to legislation that dedicates sales tax receipts to expanding the downtown museum. Nor, Fenty said, would the council "pass taxes to fund a baseball stadium."
Williams, for his part, said he sees no reason to back away from his promise to build a stadium by taxing major businesses because the whole city would benefit from a major league team. And the District should continue "creating a climate for investment in our city," he said.
The mayor also defended his record on social programs, noting that he has added beds to homeless shelters, poured money into a trust fund for affordable housing, and fixed several problematic agencies that spent years in the hands of court-appointed monitors. The Department of Corrections, for instance, is free of court oversight for the first time in 33 years.
Williams said he is frustrated that some voters don't give him credit for those accomplishments. But "perception is reality," he said.
"There's a whole group of people for whom Marion Barry gives voice who don't feel adequately represented," the mayor said. "And the lesson of [Tuesday] is they need to be better represented."
Staff writers Spencer S. Hsu, David Nakamura and Yolanda Woodlee contributed to this report.
