Barry, Franken win; Schwartz trails

UPDATED:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former mayor Marion Barry easily held off four challengers seeking his Ward 8 D.C. Council seat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Meanwhile, 16-year council veteran Carol Schwartz was facing the loss of her at-large seat to challenger Patrick Mara in the Republican primary. Mara led Schwartz by more than 750 votes with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

Besides Barry, the three other Democratic incumbents facing challenges Tuesday all appeared to be victorious: Jacks Evans in Ward 2; Muriel Bowser in Ward 4; and Yvette Alexander in Ward 7. At-large council member Kwame Brown ran unopposed.

There was some confusion late Tuesday over an unusually high number of write-in ballots in some races. The numbers were later revised, and D.C. elections board spokesman Daniel Murphy said officials were investigating.

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At-large D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz, a Republican icon in the city, was in danger late Tuesday of losing in one of several primaries across the country that featured as much celebrity as political experience.

Council member and former Mayor Marion Barry, Ward 8 Democrat, clinched his second consecutive term on the council and fourth term overall in an easy win over challenger Sandra Seegars, a neighborhood advisory commissioner and former head of the D.C. Taxicab Commission.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Al Franken — an author, former radio-show host and ex-“Saturday Night Live” cast member — won the Democratic nomination for a Senate seat against six opponents.

Mr. Franken spent millions on the race. His opponent in November will be incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, who easily beat his primary opponent — an expatriate living in Italy.

Mr. Franken’s celebrity has helped and hurt him. His coast-to-coast recognition enabled him to amass an impressive bankroll for a first-time candidate, but archives full of racy material provided ammunition to Republicans and his most visible Democratic rival, lawyer Priscilla Lord Faris.

Miss Faris, part of a well-regarded family in state Democratic politics, criticized Mr. Franken for “angry and offensive public behavior” and said he would be too easy a target for Mr. Coleman and his allies.

Six other states also held primaries Tuesday, including New York, where another former TV personality, Kevin Powell, a writer and activist who was once a cast member on MTV’s “Real World,” came up short in his challenge to 13-term Rep. Edolphus Towns, Brooklyn Democrat.

The other states holding primaries were Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

In key New Hampshire contests, Republican Sen. John E. Sununu and former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen easily won their primaries and resumed focus on their hard-fought rematch of 2002.

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