Which offices are candidates saying they are running for?
There are two open DC Council races, one in Ward 4 and one in Ward 8. While candidates are all running for one of these offices, their campaign signs and literature says they are running for a lot of (slightly) different offices.
Different media outlets have different style guides but the consensus seems to follow the style guide of the District of Columbia Government’s guide. That document outlines proper usage. The office is a Councilmember, one word. The body they serve on is the Council of the District of Columbia:
Council of the District of Columbia: For brevity, use DC Council. Do not use DC city council or city council, Use the council in subsequent references.
I find it curious that candidates are all over the place trying to find the correct language for the office they are aspiring to fill. Two candidates, based on the signs I have seen, have correctly identified their prospective office, Renee Bowser (Ward 4) and Laruby May (Ward 8).
A few are running as a Ward Councilmember, which is stylistically probably correct: Trayon White (Ward 8 Councilmember), Sheila Bunn (Councilmember Ward 8), and Ron Austin (Ward 4 Councilmember).
Another group is running for a “ward Council” seat, which is close but not quite correct : Leonard Watson (Ward 8 Council), Brandon Todd (Ward 4 Council), Acqunetta Anderson (Ward 4 Council), and Leon Andrews (Ward 4 Council).
A lot of candidates think they are running for “City Council” which is incorrect; Jahaur Abraham (City Council Ward 8), Greta Fuller (Ward 8 City Council), Anthony Muhammad (DC City Council), Sandra Seegars (Ward 8 City Council), Stuart Anderson (Ward 8 City Council), Natalie Williams (Ward 8 City Council), Judi Jones (Ward 4 City Council), and Gwenellen Corley Bowman (Ward 4 City Council).
And a few others have some other combination of language that avoids referring to DC Council: Marion C. Barry - (For Ward 8), Doug Sloan (For Ward 4), and Edwin Powell (For Ward 4).










