In a nonbinding Democratic primary that was less about the presidential election and more a cry for national attention regarding their lack of Congressional representation, the District of Columbia chose frontrunner Howard Dean in the nation’s first primary election yesterday.

With 42 percent of the vote, Dean led a field that included only four of the nine Democratic candidates. The Rev. Al Sharpton—whose campaign trails far behind in the national polls—finished a strong second with 35 percent of the voters.

Dean and Sharpton were joined by Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich and former Illinois senator Carol Moseley Braun, while the other Democratic hopefuls asked to have their names taken off the ballot in hopes of not stirring up controversy with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, which have traditionally hosted the nation’s first primaries.

But although yesterday’s contest—whose nonbinding results do not directly determine the delegates that will represent D.C. at the Democratic National Convention—ostensibly trumped Iowa’s and New Hampshire’s traditional bragging rights, the event garnered little attention either from candidates, voters or the Harvard community.

District resident Stephen P. Bosco ’03-’04 said yesterday that he wouldn’t be on the edge of his seat watching a primary which lacked “virtually all of the leading contenders.”

But Bosco, who is Republican, said he would still check the results.

“I’m curious to see how the D.C. voters are reacting to such an early primary. I am interested in seeing the turnout,” said Bosco, who added that his mother—a registered Democrat–planned to vote yesterday.

He said that the city had done a poor job of publicizing the primary, and that he himself only found out about the event from his mom over winter break.

Less than 10 percent of eligible voters cast their ballot, a figure in line with past presidential primaries held later in the course of the campaign, when the outcome of the election was clearer and voters may have been more apathetic to the outcome of those contests.

Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams declared that the primary drew the national attention to the city that had been the contest’s original goal, illuminating the larger issue of its lack of voting representation in Congress.

“I think we have gotten some national spotlight. We have gotten exposure, gotten some of the candidates talking about, and that’s victory for us,” said Williams, who graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 1987. “The fact that we had the primary that people paid attention and participated is a victory in itself.”

And he defended the decision to challenge the traditions so coveted by Iowa and New Hampshire.

“Tradition? Slavery was tradition. The civil rights movement…came because people ignored the tradition and changed the status quo,” Williams said. “We are not so much interested in our role in the electoral process or being ahead of Iowa or New Hampshire. What’s motivating us is getting on the national stage in the need for full representation. That’s the point we are making.”

But David C. King, associate professor in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, criticized D.C.’s initiative to host the nation’s first primary, calling it a “non-event.”

“The city and the candidates haven’t taken it seriously so why should anyone else? This doesn’t in any way help them in gaining representation or a seat in Congress,” he said. “All this says is ‘Ignore Washington; ignore D.C. politics,” and I think they are getting what they deserve. If they want to be taken seriously they need to take things like this seriously, time them in accordance with the rest of the nation and make their electoral vote matter.”

Some students said they were disappointed by the lack of participation by certain candidates.

Harvard supporters of Moseley Braun—who ended up placing third in the field of four—said they were excited about the primary, criticizing the missing candidates for not taking the primary seriously, according to “Students for Carol Moseley Braun” leader Ryan  P. McAuliffe ’06.

“It is a real disappointment that other candidates are not pushing for Congressional rights. Ensuring Congressional representation for the District of Columbia is an issue important to the campaign of Moseley Braun and should be to every American,” he said. “I hope the citizens turn out in high numbers and make a real statement.... That’s what this primary really is, making a statement about the disenfranchisement of D.C.”

McAuliffe said this primary will provide a boost to his candidate’s campaign, creating momentum that will aid her in upcoming primaries.

Brandon M. Terry ’05, President of the Black Men’s Forum, said that speaking solely for himself, he took offense at the lack of candidate participation in this primary.

“I think it says a lot about the candidates. The candidates on the ballot are only the ones that care about the plight of black people in D.C. enough to show support for them,” Terry said.  “The others don’t even want to lend their position to fight for the disenfranchised. It would have been a minuscule effort to show their support, to put their name on the ballot, to show that they care whether the residents of Washington, D.C. have a voice in determining the policies.”

“D.C. might as well be Puerto Rico. This is a blatant disrespect to all of the blacks that live in D.C.,” he added.

Director of the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics Dan R. Glickman said that the capital—whose population is about 60 percent black—will likely gain representation at some point in the future, but the former Secretary of Agriculture said that because this contest will have little practical impact on who will ultimately garner the nomination, it is of very little interest to the candidates, who instead focus their efforts where the results count.

Most candidates paid little heed to yesterday’s primary, but Sharpton made a serious effort in the district. The Washington Post reported that Sharpton launched a media campaign last week, buying $50,000 in radio spots on a half-dozen Washington area stations.

Although the Harvard College Democrats did not hold an event to mark the primary, according to Dems President Andy J. Frank ’05, they will be sending students to neighboring New Hampshire later this month.

—Staff writer Faryl W. Ury can be reached at ury@fas.harvard.edu.