Nov 23, 2023 By Mike Jones 4 min read

The losing candidate in Washington’s mayoral race has withdrawn his challenge to the Nov. 7 election after previously claiming there were irregularities with the voting process.

Independent candidate Mark Kennison and 19 other voters filed the challenge last week raising concerns about several precincts in the city after Kennison lost the election by just 39 votes to Democrat Jojo Burgess.

But just as the hearing was set to begin Wednesday morning before Judge Gary Gilman, Kennison and his attorney Lane Turturice announced they were withdrawing the petition, although they left the door open for a subsequent challenge before Monday’s deadline to certify the race.

“My client did not run for mayor or file this petition to divide this city,” Turturice said. “He was interested in getting to the bottom of the results for the people who supported him and voted for him.”

Turturice added that the petitioners had been “harassed” since filing the challenge, and there were concerns about “retribution” if they went forward. When Gilman asked Kennison if that is how he felt about the situation, the losing candidate stood and struck a different tone than his attorney and referred to Burgess as “mayor” in his comments.

“My goal is to ensure the election is what it should be,” Kennison said, explaining that he merely wanted a hand recount because the margin of victory was around 1% of the total votes. “I’m not here to question the integrity of any one person. It was to examine the election.”

Burgess defeated Kennison by a count of 1,076 votes to 1,037 with a margin of victory of 1.84%. Burgess will become the first Black mayor in Washington when he takes office in January.

The challenge hurled accusations against Burgess and his supporters, mainly about their actions at the first precinct in the city’s sixth ward, which voted heavily in favor of the Democrat. The petition claimed a Burgess campaign supporter interacted frequently with the precinct’s majority inspector, and that Burgess went inside the polling place on multiple occasions to use the bathroom.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Burgess said he believed the challenge was “a racist attempt to silence the Black vote in the city of Washington.”

“One of the unfortunate things that has happened since winning both the primary and the general election is that the quiet problem of racism we have in our city is now coming to light,” Burgess said in the statement.

Kennison said during Wednesday’s proceeding that he did not want the situation to turn into “us vs. them, me vs. him,” despite the challenge claiming an illegal election.

“I wish him the best, and the best for Washington,” Kennison said as he publicly acknowledged Burgess as the city’s next mayor.

After the hearing, Burgess thanked Kennison’s conciliatory and congratulatory comments toward him as the two met briefly outside the courtroom. Burgess also denied Turturice’s claims that the petitioners were threatened and he questioned the attorney’s motives to file documents alleging an “illegal election” rather than merely asking for a recount in certain precincts.

“Several people who were on the petition reached out to them for a recount, which isn’t a problem,” Burgess said. “To file a petition for a recount and then to call it an illegal election? What is going on there?”

Burgess said he wouldn’t be against a recount and even endorsed the possibility of one. However, that would require three voters in one precinct to show there was possible voter fraud or irregularities in order to have a hand recount in that particular precinct.

“If (Kennison) wanted a recount, I would sign on for that even as his opponent,” Burgess said. “But (Turturice) calling this an illegal election? I don’t like the look of that. The optics don’t match up.”

Turturice left the door open for another challenge to be filed before Monday’s deadline, although he offered no specifics. However, Gilman made clear that he would only accept a petition if it was markedly different than what was presented before Wednesday’s hearing. The county’s elections board is set to certify the Nov. 7 election at 1 p.m. Monday during a public meeting in the commissioners’ boardroom in the basement of the Crossroads Center building in Washington.

For his part, Burgess said he is ready to move on from the election and lead the city as its next mayor.

“I’m going to stay positive,” Burgess said. “We have a plan in moving Washington forward in a united front and willing to prosper.”