Washington, DC, March 15, 2011 - Last night, the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club (Stein Club) endorsed Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle for the Council At-Large position in the April 26 Special Election.

A standing room only crowd attended the Stein Club's endorsement forum to listen to the six candidates who were vying for the organization's endorsement. After two hours of candidate statements, questions from the moderator, questions from club members, and club member statements on behalf of the candidates, Stein Club members voted, on the second ballot, to endorse Biddle for the Council At-Large position. Biddle received 61.2% of votes cast on the second ballot.

Biddle also received the majority of votes on the first ballot (56%), but did not reach the 60% threshold necessary to receive the endorsement, resulting in a run-off with the candidate with the second highest vote total.

Biddle said the Stein Club endorsement "means a progressive, active, thoughtful group of democrats agree that I'm the best person to serve on the Council." He added that "it reflects both on my position on LGBT issues and my work on LGBT issues."

The Stein Club would like to thank Vincent Orange, Dorothy Douglas, Joshua Lopez, Jacque Patterson, and Bryan Weaver for participating in the endorsement process.