Erin Palmer

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Erin Palmer

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 21, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of Pennsylvania, 2003

Graduate

American University School of International Service, 2007

Law

American University Washington College, 2007

Personal

Birthplace

Los Angeles, Calif.

Profession

Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Erin Palmer (Democratic Party) ran for election as Chairman of the Washington D.C. City Council. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 21, 2022.

Palmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Erin Palmer was born in Los Angeles, California. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003, a graduate degree from the American University School of International Service in 2007, and a law degree from American University Washington College in 2007. Her career experience includes working as an assistant general counsel.

Elections

2022

See also: City elections in Washington, D.C. (2022)

General election

General election for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman

Incumbent Phil Mendelson defeated Darryl Moch and Nate Derenge in the general election for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Phil Mendelson (D)	82.0	160,948
		Darryl Moch (G)	9.7	18,937
		Nate Derenge (R)	6.7	13,128
		Other/Write-in votes	1.6	3,224

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 196,237
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman

Incumbent Phil Mendelson defeated Erin Palmer in the Democratic primary for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman on June 21, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Phil Mendelson	53.2	64,877
		Erin Palmer	46.4	56,671
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	492

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 122,040
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman

Nate Derenge advanced from the Republican primary for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman on June 21, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nate Derenge	89.9	2,469
		Other/Write-in votes	10.1	276

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,745
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green primary election

Green primary for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman

Darryl Moch advanced from the Green primary for Washington D.C. City Council Chairman on June 21, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Darryl Moch (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	100	349

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 349
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Palmer's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released December 15, 2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Erin Palmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Palmer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’m a mom, an ethics lawyer, and a dedicated public servant. I’m running to be DC Council Chairwoman to bring new energy, vision, and compassion to the DC Council. I’ll bring my years of experience fighting for stronger ethics and greater transparency to the Wilson Building to ensure our government serves all residents and makes DC stronger.

I’ve continually worked to hold government accountable. I spent several years at a law firm focused on pro bono matters, including winning asylum for an individual fleeing state violence for their political beliefs, securing needed educational supports for a child with disabilities, and advocating before the Supreme Court to end life without parole sentences for youth offenders.

For the last seven years, I served as an ethics lawyer for the federal judiciary, where I specialized in workplace accountability. As a survivor of sexual assault and harassment, these structural challenges were not just matters of revising rules and procedures but a moral call to redefine safety in our workplaces.

I currently serve as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. I’ve tackled traffic safety, infrastructure, housing, education, and community safety, with an eye not just toward fixing the immediate problems but identifying systemic challenges and improving government.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• A More Trustworthy and Effective DC Council: I strongly believe in good government and institutional accountability. My DC Council Accountability Plan is the first-ever comprehensive, evidence-based plan to build a more modern, ethical, and accountable DC Council. The Plan is rooted in my professional expertise as an ethics and accountability lawyer. It proposes a number of measures to empower the DC Council’s legislative and oversight function, strengthen the Council’s ethics and accountability, ensure inclusive and accessible Council proceedings, and support Council workers and workplace accountability. A high-functioning, ethical DC Council best serves DC residents.
• Meeting Residents’ Basic Needs for Safe and Stable Communities: I am dedicated to values-based leadership that strives to meet DC residents’ basic needs. We know that every map of DC is the same. Whether we are talking about housing stability, access to healthy food, high-quality education, patient-centered healthcare, or community safety, we are seeing the results of decades of chronic disinvestment. Building a more equitable city means not only ending patterns of discrimination but providing more resources to right historic wrongs – things like green spaces, grocery stores, and dedicated efforts to end poverty. Consistent, values-based leadership can correct for chronic disinvestment and make us safer.
• Ensuring a Resilient DC by Fighting Climate Change: Climate change is upon us, and the consequences are widespread and intensifying. We must invest heavily in robust, reliable, accessible, and affordable public transportation; building infrastructure that encourages people to drive less and makes our streets safer; and using green infrastructure at every opportunity. Climate change isn’t just an environmental issue; it is a housing, healthcare, and racial justice issue. Every government action needs to be viewed through a climate lens, and I plan to institute a Council Office on Environmental Justice and Sustainability to review all government actions.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I believe housing is a human right and all DC residents are entitled to safe, stable, and secure housing. My beliefs are rooted in my personal experience: my biological father died on the street while homeless. It’s a constant reminder that there is no reason, excuse, or justification for not taking every step we can to provide everyone the dignity of a home. My Safe Housing Action Plan addresses the need for more inspectors and more proactive inspections to ensure stable, healthy housing for all DC residents.

Our leadership can treat education as a right – not a business or expense. Driven by the values-based proposition that every DC resident deserves high-quality, equitable public education, my Plan for Public Education as a Right will improve outcomes for students, families, and school staff by fully and equitably funding our public schools; engaging in real education oversight; and ensuring safe and healthy school buildings.

My Safe Streets Infrastructure and Public Transportation Plan outlines proposals to make our streets safer by design; improve and expand public transportation; and strengthen our neighborhoods with services and amenities so people don’t need to drive as often.

My Plan for Safe, Stable, and Secure Communities includes three critical strategies for community safety: meeting residents’ basic needs as rights; meaningfully investing in violence intervention; and demanding accountable public safety agencies that serve DC residents.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

In addition to serving as a citywide representative, the Council Chair plays a central role in setting the rules and procedures for the Council. My DC Council Accountability Plan is the first ever of its kind – a comprehensive, evidence-based plan to build a more effective, modern, and ethical DC Council that residents can trust. The Plan is rooted in my professional expertise as an ethics and accountability lawyer.

My Plan focuses on four key areas:

Empower the DC Council’s Legislative and Oversight Function through strengthening the Council as a whole, reducing over-concentration of power in the Chair position, revitalizing committees, and adding legislative research capacity;

Strengthen an Ethical and Accountable DC Council by holding the Council to the highest ethical standards and implementing practiced and effective safeguards to prevent and deter ethical misconduct;

Ensure an Inclusive and Accessible DC Council by using modern technology and best practices to ensure all residents can easily and consistently participate in government; and

Support DC Council Workers and Workplace Accountability through ensuring a workplace in which all employees are treated as professionals and one that reflects the diverse communities we serve.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

My DC Council Accountability Plan proposes governance changes that will improve collaborative and collegial action by the Council as a whole and empower the Council as an institution to better make laws and conduct oversight. While some consider it a soft skill, I will work continuously to build relationships and empower other Councilmembers, including through:

improving the process of forming and assigning membership to Council Committees to assure neutrality, expertise, and consistency and to avoid the appearance of impropriety;

collaborating with fellow Councilmembers to build a core list of standing Committees and agencies that fall within each Committee’s purview to reflect Council priorities; ensure consistent, continual oversight and legislation; and avoid the appearance of favoritism; and

instituting a neutral Committee membership and chair appointment process, such as seniority bidding, a process used by many legislative bodies across the country that adds stability, expertise, and neutrality.

My interest in collaborative Council action is rooted in a deeply held belief that our democratic institutions are valuable beyond the individual elected official. It means that not only will I come in ready to legislate, conduct oversight, and act as a co-equal branch of government to hold the Executive accountable, but that every Councilmember will be better equipped to do so, as well.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I believe in collaborative decisionmaking and empowering the DC Council as an institution. That belief is rooted in my professional background as an ethics lawyer and the knowledge that our democratic institutions are valuable beyond the individual elected official. It means that not only will I come in ready to legislate, conduct oversight, and act as a co-equal branch of government to hold the Executive accountable, but that every Councilmember will be better equipped to do so, as well. I have put forward the first-ever DC Council Accountability Plan – a comprehensive, evidence-based plan to build a more effective, modern, and ethical DC Council.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

• Washington, D.C.
• Municipal elections in Washington, D.C. (2022)

External links

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Candidate

Washington D.C. City Council Chairman

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