Nominations open Tuesday for the upcoming special election to replace Trayon White on the D.C. Council after the legislative body expelled the Ward 8 Democrat over bribery charges.

D.C.’s Board of Elections said candidates can apply to join the race until April 17. The special election is scheduled for July 15.

At least one person, advisory neighborhood commissioner Salim Adofo, said he will campaign to represent a part of the city that sits east of the Anacostia River and has long struggled with high rates of crime and poverty.

Mr. Adofo was involved in a competitive Democratic primary against Mr. White last summer, which serves as the de facto general election in D.C.’s deep-blue political scene.

The July election is an all-party race in which the plurality winner will serve out the rest of Mr. White’s term, which ends after the regular 2028 elections.

Mr. White has not said whether he will run for his old seat after the council voted unanimously this month to remove him from office — the first council member forced out in the District in more than 50 years.

Council rules only prohibit convicted felons from being elected to the body.

The former councilman has pleaded not guilty to charges he agreed to accept roughly $156,000 in cash in exchange for influencing government contracts. His trial is scheduled for January 2026.

Prosecutors said video and audio recordings captured Mr. White, 40, pocketing $35,000 in cash while meeting with an FBI informant last summer.

In exchange for taking the money, Mr. White is accused of agreeing to steer some of the city’s multimillion-dollar anti-violence grants to his preferred contractors.

A D.C. Council-led investigation last year found “substantial evidence” Mr. White did accept the bribes, prompting his ouster. Much of the council’s evidence was based on accusations in the federal criminal complaint, which has yet to go to trial.

“The genesis of this matter before us is an arrest for bribery in August,” Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said in a short statement before the Feb. 4 vote. “Bribery of elected officials is quintessential corruption. The public will not tolerate … corruption. Therefore, we must act.”

Mr. White was overwhelmingly reelected to a third term in office last fall, despite his campaign fundraising drying up once news of the federal case got out.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.