The polls have closed and ballots are being counted in D.C.'s special election. It will determine who will be the next councilmember to represent Ward 8.

Trayon White, the former Ward 8 representative, is fighting to return to the same legislative body that expelled him five months ago — and may just expel him again if he wins.

White was arrested in August 2024 on a federal bribery charge, prompting a unanimous vote by the D.C. Council to expel him in February. But since he hadn’t been convicted of a felony, he was allowed to run in the special election against candidates Mike Austin, Sheila Bunn and Salim Adofo, according to the Associated Press.

Trayon White, amid a federal bribery controversy, is projected to returned to the thousands of residents in D.C.'s Ward 8 after securing a majority of votes in