It appears that Dee Andrews was able to edge out union organizer Al Austin and business owner Ahmed Saafir, among others, to replace former councilwoman Laura Richardson.
 
However, there are still over 221 Provisional Ballots and over 100 Absentee Ballots that need to be counted.  The City Clerk expects that the final results will be announced next Wednesday or Thursday.
 
Al Austin could still pull enough votes to come out victorious.
 
If his lead holds, it would be a huge win for Andrews. He leads six other candidates in an election most thought he could not win.
 
One of the important questions for the new councilmember to consider is why with just under 50,000 people in the 6th district a candidate can win with less than 600 total votes?

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance sums it up best:  “A flourishing democracy presupposes citizens who care, who are willing to take part, and capable of helping to shape the common agenda of a society. Participation, whether through the institutions of civil society, political parties, or the act of voting, is increasingly being seen as an essential prerequisite of any stable democracy.”
 
Do the citizens of the 6th district not care and are not willing to take part in the democratic process? Shall we assume they are not capable of playing a role in shaping the common agenda of our city? What is being done to give the people of the 6th district something to care about?
 
These are the tough questions for the new councilmember to find answers to…and to find them soon.