Vote to Re-Elect Brooke Pinto

Councilmember Brooke Pinto was sworn in to the DC Council as the first woman to represent Ward 2 and the youngest Councilmember in history on June 27th, 2020. Brooke has been a conscientious, engaged, and pragmatic Councilmember -- which is why most voters are confident she will win her re-election campaign. Brooke won the Democratic primary in June against an unusually crowded field of candidates. She also won the special election with a significant margin earning 42% of the vote in an 7-way race and has been serving in her six month term with vigor and insight.

In her first four months on the Council, she hit the ground running as The Washington Post suggested she would in their endorsement. Her background as both a tax attorney working in the Office of the Attorney General for the District as well as her experience as Assistant Attorney General for Policy and Legislative Affairs was fully on display as she maneuvered during the budget process to secure benefits for Ward 2. Since Jack Evans resigned as the Councilmember in January of 2020, Ward 2 had been without representation on the Council. Pinto has made serious inroads to partially correct that situation in the last 100 days.

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Over the summer, Brooke has worked to expand streateries around the Ward, and co-introduced legislation with Councilmember McDuffie to extend streateries through December, 2021 and to strengthen the District’s protections for minority owned businesses. She has appeared at dozens of committee hearings, even offering thoughtful questions and reasoned analysis for committees that she does not serve on and when asked how she makes time, she noted: “it is important to me to participate in as many of the Committees as possible from health, to housing, to labor, to business and economic development, the challenges our neighbors are facing are interrelated and intersectional and providing a holistic approach to meet their needs is of central importance to me.”

Brooke has been lauded for being collaborative and thoughtful in her service so far, offering both a forward-looking, new lens while being grounded in the practical realities of what is possible.

As the Democratic nominee running for re-election, she is all but guaranteed to win her re-election; however, when asked if she is still campaigning she responded “I do not take any vote for granted. My number one responsibility is to work every day on behalf of DC residents, but I am still asking voters to put their faith and trust in me again so I can continue working on their behalf for the next four years.”

The community is so relieved to have a new, fresh, reasonable, passionate, and positive voice on the Council. It has been disappointing to see three opponents get in the race and casting unfounded, vitriolic personal attacks on Brooke as they try to gain traction by potentially spreading misinformation and baseless accusations to try and influence voters. Some of these tactics appear to be right out of the Trump playbook of doubling down on a lie, after it is told, by repeating it multiple times on social media. Some of the news reporting on this is curious at best. It is disheartening that her few detractors online have to drag Ward 2 voters down to their level of dishonest politics.

Councilmember Pinto, as the leader she is, has been staying positive and focused on helping the residents of Ward 2 recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19. “Voters in Ward 2 do not want to see Trumpean, divisive politics in our local government; the needs are too great and I am laser focused on supporting our neighborhoods as we work to get our kids back to school, support our small businesses, and providing relief to our workers who have lost their jobs and are struggling to pay their rent.”

When asked about the race, Attorney General Karl Racine said: “While her opponents continue to attack her, Councilmember Pinto continues to focus on the important issues that confront Ward 2 and the District. Indeed, she has already established herself as a smart, thoughtful, hardworking elected official who listens carefully to her constituents and makes sensible decisions on their behalf. I am confident that Ward 2 residents will elect Brooke to a full term in November.”

While almost one third of voters have already voted by mail, in-person voting is open throughout the District from October 27th - November 3rd. You can find out where to vote here.

Let’s denounce these negative tactics and vote to re-elect Councilmember Brooke Pinto.