1992 Council of the District of Columbia election

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 2 election
← 1991 (special) November 3, 1992 1996 →
Councilmember before election; Jack Evans; Democratic	Elected Councilmember ; Jack Evans; Democratic

1992 Council of the District of Columbia At-large election
← 1988 November 3, 1992 1996 →
Councilmembers before election; John Ray (Dem.); William Lightfoot (Ind.);	Elected Councilmembers ; John Ray (Dem.); William Lightfoot (Ind.);

1992 Council of the District of Columbia election
← 1990 November 3, 1992 1994 →
6 seats on the Council of the District of Columbia; 7 seats needed for a majority

The 1992 general election for the Council of the District of Columbia was held on November 3, with primaries taking place on September 15. All incumbents ran for reelection but only four out of the six councilmembers were elected, with the remaining two both losing their party nominations during the primary. Ward 7 councilmember H. R. Crawford was unseated by challenger Kevin P. Chavous by a 4% margin in the Democratic primary. Former mayor Marion Barry returned to politics after his release from prison as the Ward 8 councilmember, beating incumbent Wilhelmina Rolark in the Democratic primary by a 3–1 margin. In Ward 4, Charlene Drew Jarvis kept her nomination in the Democratic primary by only 114 votes, but ended up winning reelection in the general election.

Summary

Democrats remained the largest party on the council, with no seats being lost to other parties or independents. The District was part of the larger anti-incumbent wave seen nationwide in 1992, with multiple incumbents either losing their primary nominations or winning by close margins. However, the dominance of the Democratic party in DC meant that none of the November general elections were particularly competitive.

Position	Incumbent				Certified candidates ▌Democratic ▌Statehood ▌Independent ▌Republican
Position	Member	Party	First elected	Status
At-Large	William Lightfoot	Independent	1988	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Ray 50.5% ▌Y William Lightfoot 29.7% ▌ Sam Jordan 9.3% ▌ Philip Baten 6.3% ▌ Brian Patrick Moore 4.5%
At-Large	John Ray	Democratic	1979	Incumbent re-elected.
Ward 2	Jack Evans	Democratic	1991 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jack Evans 79.0% ▌ Herbert Coles 13.6% ▌ Nathaniel T. Adams 6.7%
Ward 4	Charlene Drew Jarvis	Democratic	1979 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Charlene Drew Jarvis 77.0% ▌ Taalib-Din Abdul Uqdah 17.8% ▌ Paul V. Brown 3.9%
Ward 7	H. R. Crawford	Democratic	1980	Incumbent lost re-election New member elected. Democratic hold.	▌Y Kevin P. Chavous 95.8% ▌ Johnnie Scott Rice 3.8%
Ward 8	Wilhelmina Rolark	Democratic	1976	Incumbent lost re-election New member elected. Democratic hold.	▌Y Marion Barry 89.8% ▌ Richard Miller 5.8% ▌ W. Cardell Shelton 2.9%

At-large

Democratic incumbent John Ray and Independent incumbent William Lightfoot were both re-elected to the Council.

Democratic primary

Candidates

M Skeeter Douglas Jr.
Jim Montgomery
John Ray, incumbent At-large Councilmember

1992 Council of the District of Columbia At-large Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Ray (inc.)	42,623	75.67%
	Democratic	M Skeeter Douglas Jr.	7,690	13.65%
	Democratic	Jim Montgomery	4,313	7.66%
	Write-in		1701	3.02%
Total votes			56,327	100%

Statehood primary

Candidates

Sam Jordan

1992 Council of the District of Columbia At-large Statehood primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	DC Statehood	Sam Jordan	197	83.12%
	Write-in		40	16.88%
Total votes			237	100%

Republican primary

No candidates filed for the primary, with Philip Baten winning the nomination through write-in votes.

1992 Council of the District of Columbia At-large Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Write-in		1,070	100%
Total votes			1,070	100%

Independents

Candidates

William Lightfoot
Brian Patrick Moore

General election

1992 Council of the District of Columbia At-large election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Ray (inc.)	149,227	50.5%
	Independent	William Lightfoot (inc.)	87,729	29.7%
	DC Statehood	Sam Jordan	27,326	9.3%
	Republican	Philip Baten	16,516	5.6%
	Independent	Brian Patrick Moore	13,246	4.5%
	Write-in		1,211	0.4%
Total votes			295,255	100%

Ward 2

Incumbent councilmember Jack Evans won re-election to his first full term on the Council after he won the seat during the 1991 special election to replace John Wilson.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jack Evans

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 2 Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jack Evans (inc.)	3,809	94.80%
	Write-in		209	5.20%
Total votes			4,018	100%

Republican primary

No candidates filed for the primary, with Herbert Coles winning the nomination through write-in votes.

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 2 Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Write-in		210	100%
Total votes			210	100%

Independents

Candidates

Nathaniel T. Adams

General Election

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 2 election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jack Evans (inc.)	19,068	79.05%
	Republican	Herbert Coles	3,279	13.59%
	Independent	Nathaniel T. Adams	1,603	6.65%
	Write-in		171	0.71%
Total votes			24,121	100%

Ward 4

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 4 election

← 1988

November 3, 1992

1996 →


Nominee	Charlene Drew Jarvis	Taalib-Din Abdul Uqdah	Paul V. Brown
Party	Democratic	Independent	Republican
Popular vote	22,720	5,246	1,162
Percentage	76.97%	17.77%	3.94%

Councilmember before election

Charlene Drew Jarvis
Democratic

Elected Councilmember

Charlene Drew Jarvis
Democratic

Incumbent councilmember Charlene Drew Jarvis narrowly won re-election after facing accusations of neglect due to her repeated mayoral campaigns and outside work with national politics as part of the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign. She won her primary by a mere 114 votes, one of the closest primary elections with only two registered candidates in Council history, but independent challenger Taalib-Din Abdul Uqdah was unable to capture the momentum as Jarvis took more than 3/4ths of the vote in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Charlene Drew Jarvis, incumbent Ward 4 Councilmember
F. Alexis Roberson, former Marion Barry mayoral administration official

Endorsements

Charlene Drew Jarvis

Local officials

Sharon Pratt, incumbent Mayor of the District of Columbia^[3]

Organizations

F. Alexis Roberson

Labor unions

American Federation of Government Employees district 14^[3]

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 4 Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charlene Drew Jarvis (inc.)	7,316	50.01%
	Democratic	F. Alexis Roberson	7,202	49.23%
	Write-in		111	0.76%
Total votes			14,629	100%

Republican primary

No candidates filed for the primary, with Paul V. Brown winning the nomination through write-in votes.

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 4 Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Write-in		184	100%
Total votes			184	100%

Independents

Candidates

Taalib-Din Abdul Uqdah

General Election

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 4 election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charlene Drew Jarvis (inc.)	22,720	76.97%
	Independent	Taalib-Din Abdul Uqdah	5,246	17.77%
	Republican	Paul V. Brown	1,162	3.94%
	Write-in		388	1.31%
Total votes			29,516	100%

Ward 7

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 7 election

← 1988

November 3, 1992

1996 →


Nominee	Kevin P. Chavous	Johnnie Scott Rice
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	22,178	868
Percentage	95.80%	3.75%

Councilmember before election

H. R. Crawford
Democratic

Elected Councilmember

Kevin P. Chavous
Democratic

Incumbent councilmember H. R. Crawford lost his primary to Kevin P. Chavous, a lawyer and community organizer who reportedly personally knocked on every door in the ward.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nate Bush
Kevin P. Chavous
H. R. Crawford
Tony Graham Sr.

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 7 Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kevin P. Chavous	4,923	41.61%
	Democratic	H. R. Crawford (inc.)	4,388	37.09%
	Democratic	Nate Bush	2,192	18.53%
	Democratic	Tony Graham, Sr.	310	2.62%
	Write-in		17	0.14%
Total votes			11,830	100%

Republican primary

Candidates

Johnnie Scott Rice

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 7 Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Johnnie Scott Rice	136	76.40%
	Write-in		42	23.60%
Total votes			178	100%

General Election

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 7 election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kevin P. Chavous	22,178	95.80%
	Republican	Johnnie Scott Rice	868	3.75%
	Write-in		104	0.45%
Total votes			23,150	100%

Ward 8

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 8 election

← 1988

November 3, 1992

1995 (special) →


Nominee	Marion Barry	Richard Miller	W. Cardell Shelton
Party	Democratic	Independent	Republican
Popular vote	14,216	914	452
Percentage	89.75%	5.77%	2.85%

Councilmember before election

Wilhelmina Rolark
Democratic

Elected Councilmember

Marion Barry
Democratic

Marion Barry returned to District government after his release from prison, resoundingly beating incumbent Wilhelmina Rolark in the Democratic primary and cleaning up against Independent Richard Miller and Republican W. Cardell Shelton in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Marion Barry
Charles Chuck Dixon
Ab Jordan
Jephunneh Lawrence
Wilhelmina Rolark

Endorsements

Marion Barry

Labor unions

American Federation of Government Employees district 14^[4]

Wilhelmina Rolark

Labor unions

AFL-CIO Metropolitan Washington Council^[4]

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 8 Democratic primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Marion Barry	6,512	69.77%
	Democratic	Wilhelmina Rolark (inc.)	1,908	20.44%
	Democratic	Ab Jordan	617	6.61%
	Democratic	Charles Chuck Dixon	170	1.82%
	Write-in		12	0.13%
Total votes			9,333	100%

Republican primary

Candidates

W. Cardell Shelton

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 8 Republican primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	W. Cardell Shelton	52	62.65%
	Write-in		31	37.35%
Total votes			83	100%

Independents

Candidates

Richard Miller

General Election

1992 Council of the District of Columbia Ward 8 election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Marion Barry	14,216	89.75%
	Independent	Richard Miller	914	5.77%
	Republican	W. Cardell Shelton	452	2.85%
	Write-in		258	1.63%
Total votes			15,840	100%

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "September 15 1992 Primary Election" (PDF). DC Board of Elections. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
1 2 3 4 5 "November 3 1992 General Election" (PDF). DC Board of Elections. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
1 2 3 4 Henderson, Neil (September 9, 1992). "ATTACKS BITTER IN WARD 4". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
1 2 Sanchez, Rene; Castaneda, Ruben (July 30, 1992). "Labor's Fading Urge to Endorse". The Washington Post. Vol. 115, no. 238. p. DC3.

[primres-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "September 15 1992 Primary Election" (PDF). DC Board of Elections. Retrieved June 12, 2026.

[GenRes-2] 1 2 3 4 5 "November 3 1992 General Election" (PDF). DC Board of Elections. Retrieved June 12, 2026.

[wapo_w4-3] 1 2 3 4 Henderson, Neil (September 9, 1992). "ATTACKS BITTER IN WARD 4". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 18, 2026.

[wapo_lab1-4] 1 2 Sanchez, Rene; Castaneda, Ruben (July 30, 1992). "Labor's Fading Urge to Endorse". The Washington Post. Vol. 115, no. 238. p. DC3.

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