D.C. Democratic Committee To Chose Council Member

D.C's local Democratic party will meet tonight to pick an interim council member. The vacancy was created when Phil Mendelson gave up his at-large seat to become the council chair following the resignation of Kwame Brown. 

The appointment process has sparked some controversy, with even some D.C. Democratic party members questioning why the city's newest council member will be picked by a small group of political insiders and not the public. 

Vacancies for council seats representing one of the city's wards can only be filled by a special election, but one of the at-large seats is vacant, the party who controlled that seat gets to choose a replacement. 

The appointment is just temporary — a special election will be held in April — but political observers say the person picked to fill the seat could have a leg up on the competition in terms of visibility and fundraising. 

The local party, known as the D.C. Democratic State Committee will meet tonight to vote on the appointment. The chair of Democratic State Committee, Anita Bonds, is running for the seat, as are Doug Sloan, an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner from Ward 4 and John Capozzi, a former D.C. shadow representative.