MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast, when a modern vision for a dance company goes down the rabbit hole, the future of the Washington Ballet with artistic director Septime Webre. But first, primary day in Maryland and the District of Columbia, where most candidates across the region experienced something closer to business as usual than Alice's trip to Wonderland.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIIncumbents appeared to have run the table in Washington despite the misgivings many voters may have about corruption probes into the mayor and the D.C. Council. And the one citywide candidate who seemed most at risk of defeat is holding on to a razor-thin margin as the final votes are being tallied. In Maryland meanwhile, few upsets were posted.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIBut one well-financed congressional candidate muscled his way through a knockdown, drag-out primary that attracted nationwide attention. And now, he's aiming to take out one of the state's only Republican representatives on Capitol Hill. Joining us to sort through these results is Patrick Madden, reporter for WAMU 88.5. Patrick, good to see you again.

MR. PATRICK MADDENGood to see you, Kojo.

NNAMDIAnd joining us from studios at The Baltimore Sun is Andy Green. He is the editorial page editor of The Baltimore Sun. Andy Green, thank you for joining us.

MR. ANDREW A. GREENYou're welcome, Kojo. Good to hear you.

NNAMDIIf any of you have comments or questions on yesterday's election results, you can call us at 800-433-8850, offer them at our website, kojoshow.org, send us a tweet, @kojoshow, or email to kojo@wamu.org. Patrick, for all the disgruntlement and all the angry editorials in The Washington Post, voters did little to shake up the political balance of power in the District yesterday. Most of the incumbents cruised to victory.

NNAMDIAnd it appears that at-large Councilmember Vincent Orange is clinging to a slim lead over his primary Democratic challenger Sekou Biddle in his race. While the final ballots are being counted, what's the latest you're getting in that contest?

MADDENWell, the latest is I actually -- right before the show, I spoke with an official at the Board of Elections and Ethics, and the process is -- we're not going to know the final outcome here for 10 days, perhaps longer because that's because they don't start counting these provisional -- sorry, these absentee ballots until Friday the 13th. And they're also going to count the provisional ballots.

MADDENSo we're talking maybe seven -- six to 7,000 votes out there that still have to be counted. And when they count that, then they're going to certify the election on the 18th. And if the margin of victory is less than 1 percent, that triggers an automatic recount. And so this could drag on a little bit as we try to figure out who won this at-large race, which, as you mentioned, everyone is watching.

NNAMDIWhy, pray tell, do they not count the absentee ballots until Friday the 13th?

MADDENWell, that is because they need to wait to make sure that any ballots that are out there have time to come in. And so that's what the delay is about.

NNAMDII was reading "Loose Lips" columnist Alan Suderman's blog this morning. He was at Sekou Biddle's election party last night. And he said the atmosphere was kind of angry. By most accounts, Biddle ran up the score on Orange in white affluent wards, while Vincent Orange returned the favor east of the Anacostia River. It looks as if this electorate is still very much divided by race and class, at least the results of this primary seem to indicate that.

MADDENIt's interesting. I'm looking at the breakdown of the returns from the wards, and, as you mentioned, Biddle very strong in wards 1, 2, 3, Orange strong in 5, 6, 7, 8. And if you look at it, Ward 4 -- and that's where most of the votes came in -- Biddle at 41 percent, Orange at 39 percent. So they split Ward 4, and it looks like that's -- if Biddle ends up losing, that's -- that may be what cost him 'cause that's where he's from. That's his base. He's from Ward 4.

NNAMDIAlan Suderman was at Biddle's election party last night, as I mentioned. He said the atmosphere was kind of angry, that Biddle came off kind of bitter, that one candidate in particular, the aforementioned Peter Shapiro, took votes away from him by running a noncompetitive campaign. I guess Biddle is therefore a little understandably upset, huh?

MADDENWell, there's this term being thrown out there -- spoiler -- for Peter Shapiro, who was a relative newcomer to District politics. He, of course...

NNAMDIAlthough he pointed out during his -- during the debate we had here with the at-large candidates, he's a District native. But he's been living in Prince George's County for a while. He was a member of the county council. He's been living back here for the last two years.

MADDENRight. And so there are essentially two competing thoughts here. One is that, you know, with -- if Shapiro's vote -- if Shapiro had dropped out or he was not in this race, that those votes would have gone to Biddle, and that would have put him over the top. On the other hand, the other candidate we're not talking about is Rev. Holness, and she ended up with about 7.5 percent of the vote. So she also took a big chunk of votes, so it's -- they almost wipe each other out, too, Shapiro and Holness.

NNAMDISo there are other places where Sekou Biddle can point fingers.

MADDENExactly. There -- yeah.

NNAMDIYou've reported that Vincent Orange is under a lot of scrutiny for how his previous campaigns were financed. You uncovered money orders linked to Jeffrey Thompson, a prolific donor to D.C. political candidates. His offices were recently raided by federal agents. There were activists out and about yesterday collecting signatures to force a ballot initiative on banning corporate contributions to political campaigns. How did those activists make out?

MADDENWell, according to the activists, and, again, this is for an initiative to ban corporate dollars in local campaigns. And so it's called Initiative 70, and they need -- I believe it's 22,000. So over 20,000 votes -- signatures, certified signatures to get on the ballot, and so yesterday was really the big opportunity for these activists to gather signatures. So they had put folks at all the different polling places to try to gather signatures. And my understanding is they hit their goal, which was about 10,000 votes, helping them almost get halfway...

NNAMDII think they're going to be on the ballot in November. That's what it looks like anyways.

MADDENRight. And if they're on the ballot, most people agree it's probably going to pass.

NNAMDI800-433-8850 is the -- if you'd like to join the conversation with Patrick Madden. He's a reporter for WAMU 88.5. We're looking at the D.C.-Maryland primaries that took place last night. Also joining us is Andy Green, editorial page editor of The Baltimore Sun. 800-433-8850. Andy, a lot of money was thrown around in one congressional race in Maryland yesterday that was being followed closely throughout the country.

NNAMDIFinancier John Delaney came out on top in a Democratic primary against State Senator Rob Garagiola in the state's 6th District, a district that, by most accounts, was redrawn by Garagiola's allies in Annapolis so that he'd have a shot at beating the Republican congressman there -- Roscoe Bartlett -- in a general election. What happened in Maryland 6?

GREENWell, this is an interesting case where you're not sure which distasteful political narrative you like less. One is the map lines being redrawn in backrooms of Annapolis to favor one guy -- Rob Garagiola -- versus another guy pouring in a bunch of money to buy the election -- John Delaney. So in the end, money won. But this district was definitely drawn with Garagiola in mind.

GREENSo this is the western Maryland district, stretches all the way out to the western border and previously had covered pretty much all the rural territory in western and northern Maryland, all the way up into parts of northern Baltimore County. But, instead, it now takes a sharp turn southward around Frederick, down into Montgomery County. And the section of Montgomery County that it includes bears a remarkable resemblance to Rob Garagiola's State Senate district.

GREENSo, obviously, they were trying to give him some friendly territory. But this does set up now what could be a pretty competitive race in the fall. This is now a district that, had it been in existence at the time, would have gone for Barack Obama in 2008 instead of John McCain. So there's thinking that this is one of the few good opportunities in the nation for Democrats to pick up a seat.

NNAMDIDelaney was on "The Politics Hour" a few weeks ago. At the time, we pressed him on why he gave money to Andy Harris, the state's other Republican congressman. He told us that a close friend told him to do it. Do you think that's likely to come up in the general election? And what effect do you see it having?

GREENI don't think it's likely to come up much in the general election. The focus now is going to be much different. It's going to be a Democrat versus Republican kind of contest now. So I think people and Democratic voters are going to be much less concerned with whether this guy made one donation to a Republican a few years ago. They're looking at a contrast between him and Roscoe Bartlett, who's a, you know, pretty conservative guy.

GREENHe used to be sort of way out there on the conservative end. But the Republican Party has, I think, sort of moved his way over the years. But, in any case, there's going to be a sufficient contrast there that I doubt that voters are going to care all that much about that issue.

NNAMDIYou mentioned that this district was drawn specifically to favor Garagiola. Gov. O'Malley was behind Garagiola. Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, was behind -- House minority leader was behind Garagiola.

GREENAnd pertinently State Senate President Mike Miller, who is very influential in these matters.

NNAMDISo what does this race say, if anything, about the political clout those big Maryland Democrats have in this part of the state? The Democratic Party establishment was behind Garagiola.

GREENYeah. And it's not only that. But the labor unions were behind Garagiola, too. And you would have thought that in a low-turnout race, like this one, their ability to turn out the vote would have been a real advantage, but it turns out it wasn't. I mean, I think it's not so surprising that voters in Montgomery County are not all that clued into what the powerbrokers in Annapolis want.

GREENI mean, it's no secret, I think, that Montgomery County voters are more focused on Washington than they are in Annapolis. And so the fact that big state powerbrokers are behind Garagiola probably had much less effect there than it would elsewhere. You know, having Gov. O'Malley behind you if you're running in Baltimore is one thing, but having him behind you if you're running in Montgomery County is not quite as crucial, I think.

NNAMDIWell, of course, I mean, the winner in this race...

GREENDelaney.

NNAMDIDelaney had the support of former President Bill Clinton.

GREENHe did.

NNAMDIWas that significant?

GREENI think that certainly helps. You know, I think that's the kind of thing that voters in this district here are likely to pick up on. I think, really, probably what made the difference here was the name recognition. You know, this is a new district, and the people who are running in it are not all that well-known to most of the people in it. And, you know, John Delaney was just pounding direct mail in this race, getting his name out there in a big, big way that Rob Garagiola, who was outspent three to one, just wasn't close to matching.

NNAMDIPatrick Madden, it seemed almost like some of the ward candidates for the Council were running against dozens of opponents. To what degree did candidates like Yvette Alexander and Muriel Bowser benefit from running against fields that apparently fractured the vote?

MADDENWell, I think you're right. I think it's clear that there -- definitely, the incumbents benefited from how many challengers they were facing, particularly in Alexander's case in Ward 7 where it's clear that her opponents, Brown, Chavous, Bennett, they really split up the vote. And I think Alexander only finished with 42 percent. So it's not like she was over the...

NNAMDIShe didn't get a majority, just a plurality, yeah.

MADDENExactly. But then you look at some of the other races. And, for example, Marion Barry, with 75 percent, so...

NNAMDIWell, that's less than he got the last time around.

MADDENThat's true. That's true.

NNAMDIYeah, 77, the last time around. Is there any chance -- well, let's stay with Ward 4 for a second and Muriel Bowser because Paul in Takoma, D.C. has a comment on that. Paul, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

PAULYeah. I just wanted to say that I thought yesterday's vote in Ward 4 was indicative of two things. One is that Muriel Bowser didn't go under 60 percent in any of the 20 precincts in the ward. And her support across the District, I think, is because of not only for -- maturing into an independent voice on Council and taking on leadership roles, but the fact that she's really done a marvelous job in relation to ordinary constituents and community leaders all across the ward and listening carefully and responding to their concerns.

PAULIt's not that we agree with all of her positions or votes, but I think she's been an open, fair and really sort of hardworking councilmember and the type of person that folks want to see. I mean, we had a bigger vote in Ward 4 and a bigger vote for Councilmember Bowser than any other ward candidate around the city in terms of the total. And I think she won about, what, 66, 67 percent of the votes.

NNAMDICorrect, correct, correct. Paul, thank you very much for your call. I benefit from a lot of Paul's advice some mornings at Coolidge -- at the track of Coolidge. But it seems as if there was quite a bit of opposition to Muriel Bowser, but her negatives apparently were not that high to cause a lot people to vote against her.

MADDENRight. And she was probably the one councilmember who was up for re-election that really was receiving a lot of the endorsements across the board, whether it was The Washington Post, whether it was different organizations. So she has really emerged as -- while some of the other councilmembers have sort of been tainted by a lot of the scandal that's going on right now, she has sort of emerged as someone -- and it helped that she was in charge of pushing forward the ethics reform. And so that has helped. She can lend her name to that package of bills.

NNAMDIIs there any chance that one of these incumbents could fall in a general election? Ron Moten certainly makes a lot of noise as a Republican candidate in Ward 7. He won the Republican primary there yesterday.

MADDENWell, I think all of us who have to cover these races are sort of savoring for that race because it's going to be a lot of fun covering. Moten -- Ron Moten, who we all know from his work at the Peaceoholics, the Fenty campaign, he's a very familiar name. And Yvette Alexander, who...

NNAMDIThey have history.

MADDENThey have history, and it's going to be a very spirited general election for a ward race, which is something you do not see very often here in the District, which is usually a -- it's usually the primaries which gather all the -- garner all the attention.

NNAMDIAndy, it should be noted that Maryland voters did cast ballots in a statewide race yesterday. Sen. Ben Cardin pretty much crushed his challengers...

GREENYeah, he squeaked at -- squeaked by with 75 percent of the vote.

NNAMDIIts challengers included State Sen. C. Anthony Muse. What did you make of that race, and what kind of general election is Cardin looking at in the fall, a cruise?

GREENYeah, it didn't turn out to be too much of a race with Sen. Muse, who was going up against someone who's one of the best-known people in Maryland politics and who certainly has not done anything to discredit himself since he moved to the U.S. Senate six years ago. And it never really seemed that there was a whole lot of raison d'etre to Sen. Muse's campaign to be...

NNAMDIThe raison d'etre I got from the Muse campaign was that he should be elected because he is African-American. He represents a predominantly African-American district.

GREENYeah.

NNAMDIBut when his opponent was endorsed by the African-American president, when it was endorsed by Kweisi Mfume, who was Ben Cardin's opponent previously, and, yeah...

GREENWho ran against him last time, yeah. Right. That's just not enough to take out an incumbent senator, plus which, you know, the fundraising differential there was huge as well. And Ben Cardin has raised a lot of money for this race. He took it very seriously for what it's worth. He goes into the general election against a guy named Daniel Bongino, who's a pretty interesting candidate. He's a former Secret Service agent and has gotten a lot of attention for his jumping into this race.

GREENYou know, that said, it remains a very tough climb for any Republican candidate in Maryland, particularly a newcomer to politics, particularly, you know, someone who does not have statewide name recognition or organization or anything like that. So, you know, Ben Cardin remains the prohibitive favorite in November. But, that said, there is at least kind of an interesting new voice on the Republican side in the campaign against him.

NNAMDIWe should note that Congressman Donna Edwards, who objected very strongly -- Congresswoman Donna Edwards, who objected very strongly to the new congressional map last year, came out of her primary in the 4th District without any scratches. What kind of race is she looking at in the general election?

GREENI would not anticipate her having any difficulty in the general election, you know. Although she was upset about the way her district was drawn, I think she was more upset that it could lead to the possibility of a challenge in the primary than that it would cause her real trouble in the general election. You know, she used to have a section of Montgomery County, in which she did very well, both in terms of votes and fundraising.

GREENAnd she lost that and picked up some -- more precincts in Prince George's, and actually in Arundel County as well. But the District is still solidly Democratic, and she should be fine in November.

NNAMDIOne last note about that 4th District, former State's Attorney Glenn Ivey decided to sit out the Democratic primary only after talking in public about how he wanted to challenge Donna Edwards for the second time. Where to from here for Glenn Ivey? He seems determined to run for something.

GREENWell, looks like the attorney general's office will be open in a couple years here. That might not be a bad fit for him. You know, he's a guy who, you know, I've always thought is a very talented politician.

NNAMDIYep.

GREENYou know, he's a well-spoken, good-looking guy, and those tend to go far. I think if he wants to run for an office like that, he could have a real shot at it.

NNAMDIPatrick Madden, you've been playing close attention to the drip, drip, drip of the corruption probes in the Wilson Building here in D.C. How do you expect those investigations might end up affecting Vincent Orange in the general election, assuming he makes it to the general election?

MADDENAssuming he makes it. Yeah, I mean, I think it's -- it'll be interesting to follow when the next shoe is going to drop because you have all of these different investigations right now. And for a while, it looked like they were starting to wrap up. But, you know, in the past couple months, it just seems like you hear about these new, you know, more subpoenas, you know, these subpoenas that went out to councilmembers, you know, the raid of Jeffrey Thompson. So it seems like there is just so many different investigations going on right now.

NNAMDIDidn't seem like there was a whole lot of turnout yesterday. The District moved up their primary date to April this year after having it in September in previous years. What do you think the city learned about the mechanics of holding an election yesterday?

MADDENWell, I think if you talk to -- a lot of people are saying that the city could've done a better job of getting the word out about the primary that was moved up to April. But the same time, if you look at the numbers -- you have to remember the mayor's race was not on this ballot, so it's kind of like an off-year election for the District. So, typically, you wouldn't see that much turnout anyway.

MADDENI'm looking at the September 2008, which is a very similar race, and that was about 13.8 percent, think we had about 15.5 percent turnout of registered voters. So when you look at that -- those numbers, we pretty much were on par.

NNAMDIIf you look at the at-large race and the results of it yesterday, do you think that will give momentum to people who have been arguing for open primaries in the past? Seems like that might have made it more interesting.

MADDENOh, I think it would've made it a lot...

NNAMDIIt was interesting enough.

MADDENRight. It would've made it a lot more interesting, I think. Especially in this town, you're always going to hear calls for an open primary because the...

NNAMDIIt's a Democratic town.

MADDENIt's a Democratic town. And if you're not a registered Democrat or you can't for, you know, for work reasons or whatever, you really don't have a voice in the process.

NNAMDIMost of the time, you're not in the game at all. Patrick Madden, he's always in the game. He's a reporter for WAMU 88.5. Patrick, thank you for joining us.

MADDENThank you, Kojo.

NNAMDIAndy Green is the editorial page editor of The Baltimore Sun. Andy, thank you for joining us.

GREENAlways good to talk to you, Kojo.

NNAMDIGoing to take a short break. When we come back, when a modern vision for a dance company goes down the rabbit hole, the future of The Washington Ballet with artistic director Septime Webre. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.