WASHINGTON, D.C. — Robert White is no longer a member of the D.C. Council. The at-large member turned in his resignation Monday, one day before Washington voters decide whether he becomes the District’s next delegate to Congress.
White, the Democratic nominee for delegate, stepped down because of a law dating to 1970 that bars the delegate from holding another paid public office on Election Day. He told supporters gathered outside the Wilson Building that he does not agree the law should apply to the council and pledged to change it if he wins.
He spent 10 years on the council. In his farewell he listed a youth mentoring program, an abortion rights measure, a law that gave back the vote to incarcerated people and the purchase of a building tied to the city’s go-go music history that now houses a museum.
The seat White hopes to win has been held for 45 years by Eleanor Holmes Norton, who chose not to seek another term. Walter Fauntroy, the first person to hold the job, won it in 1971.
His departure leaves an open at-large council seat. The D.C. Democratic Party said last week it is working to fill the vacancy and will make its pick at an appropriate time.
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