Today was the DC Primary, where registered members of the political parties vote for their representatives to the November General Election, and for various party and local council positions. I had to select a candidate for a Delegate to the House, a candidate for “Shadow” Representative, (both non-voting positions, since DC sadly remains unrepresented), an At-Large Member of the City Council, and for various Democratic party positions populated by coalitions with names like “RUNNING AGAINST BUSH” and “Victory 2004.” (Democratic Howard Dean supporters and mayorally beholden incumbents respectively, according to Washington City Paper’s “Loose Lips”.)

This week has been quite an instructional exercise in local politics, considering I didn’t even know what a primary was as of two days ago. And it is an experience like no other, to emerge fresh from voting at a precinct just two blocks from the Capitol, turn around, and see that big old Dome with the light on under the statue of Freedom.

DC Primary Election results here. Good to see Kwame Brown leading the Democratic race for At-Large Council Member, as he’s one of Smokefree DC’s preferred choices on our voter guide. Not so good that busted crackhead ex-mayor Marion Barry has won the Ward 8 Council Seat, because of people who vote for their “one-of-us” celebrities just like how Filipinos voted for Joseph Estrada in 1998. More from DCist.