that's when the current chairman phil mendelson was first elected to the council and then finally the thing i've been hearing the last couple months is the community college. how can we engage to make sure the community college is grounded, funded and really making a difference for jobs in d.c. >> voters approved charter amendments aimed at keeping corrupt legislators out of office. >> it's all part of this process. >> reporter: phil mendelson easily won election yesterday succeeding former council chairman kwame brown, one of two council members forced from office before pleading guilty to felony charges. >> former d.c. council chairman kwame brown will be sentenced later this month on bank fraud charges and former councilman harry thomas jr. is currently serving time for stealing funds from youth programs in the district. >>> it's not a hurricane. it's not a superstorm. it's a nor easter and it's still one of those things we just don't need. >> we're not going to really get it here, but up in new jersey and new york it's awful and three got winds at 35 miles per hour in laguardia an

remember, kwame brown had to step down, the temporary person in place right now is phil mendelson. he's running for that seat and it looks like, if you talk to most folks in the district, that phil mendelson will become the council chair. at this point, we're not sure again, brian, the polls closing in the district at 8:00 p.m. >> all right, matt ackland. let's try back with karen gray houston in burke, virginia now. >> reporter: the polls close here in virginia in a few minutes. at 7:00, and we should be starting to get an indication, not too long after that, about whether this is going to be a red or a blue state. president obama seems to have a slightem in the more recent polls taken over mitt romney. as you know, the only poll that really counts is the one that is going on right now. now, the lines have been long here. voting heavy at the lake braddock secondary school in burke all day long and this houses two precincts. the lake braddock precinct, a larger one and the heaviest voting and the signal hill precinct. we are told by officials that, and i have some numbers here 4600

after the break, dc council chairman phil mendelson is going to join us.e'll be back with that and more. it's 7:41. zoóÑ >>> in the district council veteran phil mendelson will serve out brown's term. >> winning 72% of the vote. let's head down to the news room where sara is standing by with the chairman. >> thank you. that's right. phil with us this morning. congratulations on your win. just off the top, give me your reaction to your win and how you hope to move forward with the council. >> well, this puts the final point on what happened back in the summer when brown resigned and i was appointed as chairman until the election yesterday. i've been elected to complete the term. so i will be up for election in 2014. it does put some certainty to our moving forward. i think that's a good thing. and i think with the election we will see the council has a new and different tone. >> and that's the thing you alluded to. we've had scandalous issues that have occurred. how do you go about restoring the trust in the council for the public. how do you do this now? >

phil mendelson is now officially chairman of the d.c. council. on the special election for the seat with 72% of the vote. mendelson has filled in as chair for the past five months following the resignation of former chairman kwame brown due to a corruption scandal. mendelson will serve adds chairman for the next two years, filling out brown's term. >>> and d.c. residents also approved three charter amendments making it easier to remove council members or the mayor from office. if the member or the mayor is convicted of a felony while serving, they will be removed and won't be able to hold office again. >>> colorado and washington are the first states to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use. in colorado, it means residents 21 or older can have up to an ounce of marijuana. the state plans to tax and regulate sales. washington will also regulate and tax the drug. oregon has the same question on the ballot, but residents there voted it down. >>> maryland is not the only state to legalize same-sex marriage this year. it jo

phil mendelson is chairman of the council after serving for five months following kwame brown's resignation. yvette alexander retained her council ward seat. 88% of the vote for marion barry, who begins his third term on the d.c. council. >>> maryland democrats picked up a seat in the house of representatives in the 6th district. john delaney beat long time incumbent roscoe bartlett. the lines were recently redrawn. in virginia's 8th district, jim moran beat patrick murray by an overwhelming margin. it's the second time murray challenged moran. >>> it is now 4:36. 40 degrees. still to come, lots of voters stood in line to cast their votes. coming up, we'll keep an eye on the voting problems in virginia and nationwide. >>> welcome back. at 4:39, it has been a cold start to the week and getting even colder. we've mentioned the "s" word. i had to dig out the winter coats for my kids. they said, you know what, it's november. i'm not putting on my winter coat. >> tom, seems like a big word already. >> and the "s" word is not sun. we're talking about maybe some snow later today. >>> right now sto

council is holding a public hearing led by chairman phil mendelson. audrey barnes is live with the latest. audrey? i know there is a lot of opinions on this one. >> reporter: there are a lot of opinions, shawn, and that council hearing room is packed with more than 100 people who want to -- what they think about the proposal to close 20 schools, many of them at the end of the school year and this plan by the school chancellor will affect 3,000 students in six wards. most of the schools to close are in northeast and those east of the anacostia river. the council members want to hear what the public has to say. because of the sheer volume of parents and concerned citizens affected by this plan, they will have another hearing on monday night to hear the rest of the parents. the biggest thing that parents seem to be concerned about are her efforts to create two -- create two megaschools that would cater through six to 12th graders in the same building. a lot of concern with parents having their younger children going to school with children 17 and 18 year

council member phil mendelson or democratic challenger calvin gurley. the winner will complete brown's term which runs through january 22nd, 2013. that means another race will take place in 2014. >>> senate candidates tim kaine and george allen will vote right after polls open. kaine and his wife will vote in richmond. allen and his wife are casting their vote in alexandria and will travel to several precincts in the commonwealth. polls show kaine has a slight lead over allen. >> and virginiians can start voting in that race in less than 30 minutes. polls in the commonwealth open at 6:00 this morning. they close at 7:00 tonight. in d.c. and maryland, polls open an hour later at 7:00 a.m. they close an hour later as well at 8:00. news 4 is working for you as voters head to the polls. for details on questions on your ballot, check out our voting guide. it's really well done, i have to say. it's at nbcwashington.com. >>> we have updated numbers for you from that suicide car bombing in baghdad. 27 people have now died. 50 people are hurt. initial reports we

we're going to start off with phil mendelson. taking on calvin gurley.s handily in the lead there. >> let move on to the at large race in d.c. of course, orange the incumbent there is right now in the lead over david grasso, who has been giving him a tough fight. orange in the lead by 35% over his competitor. >> we want to go to d.c. council ward 7 i believe, which actually, there is ward 7. yvette alexander with 88% of the vote over ron moten. >> and back to ward 8, marian berry with a commanding lead. marian berry again in the lead in ward 8. >>> let's talk a little more about these district races. all right, let's first go to matt covering the district politics for us for a while now. what are you seeing with these results coming in right now? >> reporter: i'm with brian, chairman phil mendleson. 73% of the vote, i should ask you, first at this point, how are you feeling about tonight? >> i'm glad the election is finally over and i'm glad the votes are coming in, and i appreciate very much the voters who supported me for election to chairman of the co

voters elected phil mendelson. he won the special election with 72% of the vote.delson, an at large counc councilmember filled in for five months. he took over as chairman after kwame brown pleaded guilty of theft and resigned in june. there will be a special election to fill mendelson's old seat on the council. >>> michael brown lost his seat on the d.c. council. an independent won. derrick ward spoke with him. he joins us live in northeast d.c. >> how are you, keith? we are in northeast. this is a neighborhood where dave lives. he will become the newest member of the d.c. council after being elected last night. in being elected, he unseated incumbent michael brown, an independent who already conceded his personal financial problems didn't help his chances of being reele reelected. as voters, look at the voting record. he was able to strike a resident cord with voters in the district. those who are reform minded. he now joins the council and the government who has their own share of issues, past and present. we spoke with him about how he feels he fits into the w

city council chairman phil mendelson continues hearings into the closing down of school buildings byblic schools. that hearing starts at 2 p.m. at wilson building. tuesday, november 20th, the senate come tee on homeland security and government -- committee on homeland security and government affairs considers the commission of robert oku to be the associate judge in the district of columbia at 2:30 p.m. in the dirkson building. wednesday, the electric vehicle association holds its monthly region into looking at ways drivers can expand their use of evs in the silver spring library at 7 p.m. on thursday the washington national cathedral conducts its annual thanksgiving service at 10 a.m. on wisconsin avenue and friday, november 23rd, national park service will offer an evening special presentation at the national world war ii memorial from 7:00 to 9 p.m. telling the history of the memorial. that's your capital rundown for the week of november 19th, 1212. you'll famed us on www.myfoxdc.com and our twitter hashtag is -- november 19th, 2012. you'll find us on www.myfoxdc.com and our twitt