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April 26 DC Special Election
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jsteele
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I don't think Orange is a contender. He hasn't raised any money. He has one union endorsement but little else in the way of anything else going for him. I think both Weaver and Mara are stronger than Orange. Plus Biddle will now have both Mara and Weaver beating up on him because of his failed challenges. Biddle is endorsed by Gray, Brown, Harry Thomas, and Marion Barry. If Wells endorses him, that only makes the argument that he is the establishment candidate that much stronger. I don't think that is going to help him in the current atmosphere. |
Anonymous
No more responses from me- your posts are rude and condescending. I do not like your aggressive tone and would walk away politely if we were in person, so I am signing off and letting you have the last word on your thread here. |
Anonymous
I think here you're defining "establishment" so broadly as to be meaningless. Being endorsed by Gray, Brown, Barry, and Wells is a bit like being endorsed by Clinton, Obama, GW Bush, Nader, and Ron Paul. Maybe I'm insufficiently cynical, but I don't think being endorsed by the ex- and current mayor, the chair, the disgraced east-of-the-river outcast, and half of the councilmembers will be the liability you seem to think. Having said that, I don't think Weaver's electable to citywide office at this point. He has no constituency, and he's pretty unpolished. Like I said, Mara's an attractive candidate, but if Orange isn't a contender, I'm afraid Mara's not even in the race. Obviously polls at this point are somewhat meaningless, but this is interesting: "The Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis reports that a poll “that has been seen by several candidates” shows former Ward 5 Councilmember Vincent Orange leading the field at 32 percent, appointed incumbent Sekou Biddle 12 percent, Republican Patrick Mara 6 percent, Jacque Patterson 4 percent, and Josh Lopez 3 percent." http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/DMV-Daily-DC-Council-Race-Frontrunner--Undecided-115100424.html Forty-three percent undecided. The article says the poll is "meaningless", and if this were a standard election, I'd agree. But we've had previous special elections where turnout was 5% of registered voters. So there's a very good chance that this election will be nothing but "insiders" anyway. Very good chance those 43% of undecideds can't be convinced to come out to vote in any circumstances. |
jsteele
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I was actually one of the respondents on that poll. It seems I get called for almost any poll. I was one of the 12 percent that went with Biddle. I can tell you that the poll is indeed, worthless. It's worth noting that the 12% for Biddle supports my contention that I was apparently rude in making that there was no Biddle bandwagon prior to Brown getting behind him. The way the poll went is they listed off the candidates you mentioned above and asked various questions. At the time, I had not heard of Jacque Patterson. The only one I said that I regarded positively was Biddle. They then read various statements about Biddle and Orange and then asked me which I would support. I think Orange's support in that poll is simply due to name recognition. He had just campaigned for Council Chair. Very few people knew any of the others. In this election, you either need motivated supporters or money and organization. My analysis is that Mara can be helped by motivated Republicans who feel this is their one chance to get back into city government and disaffected Fenty supporters, especially those in Ward 3 that supported Hedgepeth. Biddle has money and organization thanks to Gray and Brown. He will be able to bus senior citizens to the polls and so on. Orange has no money, little organization, and big negatives. Lopez is the big unknown. In my mind, he competes with Biddle and Mara, but may have a base in the hispanic community. He is extremely hard working. Weaver probably has the most interesting message. His online supporters are almost fanatical. The question is whether he can translate his online support into real world votes. His record on the petitions -- 92% valid is unheard of. That's one sign of how dedicated his volunteers are. But, if he can get his name recognition up and his message out, he can become a threat. A big question is what happens to Patterson. If he fails to get his disqualification overturned, his pissed off supporters can help someone. Over the next few weeks, I suspect all of the candidates will be beating up on Biddle. How he responds will be key. The climate is ripe to turn him into a laughingstock. He doesn't deserve it, but that's politics. Because of his flip flop on taxes, many reporters already use the term "biddle" to mean "switch positions" as in "Sulaimon Brown biddled his support for Gray". He will have to address Navigator-Gate, SuBrown-Gate and so on, all the while having to explain his support from Gray and Brown. Now he will have to explain his failed challenges which were actually comical. But, I don't think Biddle's threat is Orange. I think its Mara and Weaver. |
Anonymous
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Well, I hope you're correct. That would be quite a leading indicator of the political "health" of the city.
I'd be fine with any one of those three. |
Anonymous
This seems extremely strained to me. How many are these "many" reporters? |
jsteele
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Just search Twitter for "biddle" and see what comes up. There aren't that many local political reporters, but a bunch of them were having fun with that for a while. Also, I just posted Patrick Mara's statement to DCUM on the home page: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/weblog/2011/03/07/maria And, I now realize that when I tried to type "mara" I ended up with "maria" which is my wife's name. My fingers must have autocorrected my brain. |
Anonymous
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Just wanted to add that nobody has talked about the State Board of Education races except the moderator....
Now for the gratuitous plug..... ON APRIL 26TH, VOTE FOR AN ALMQUIST FOR THE WARD-4 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION! An Almquist is a visiting professor at the University of the District of Columbia – National Center for Urban Education, where she researches evidence-based practices and delivers content with fidelity to ensure that future teachers are preparing our students to become successful in today’s global economy. She has hands-on expertise, as a former Curriculum Specialist for grades K–12 where she reviewed, selected, and collaborated with educational leaders and teachers in selecting high quality resources to prepare students for the future. Mrs. Almquist is currently a doctoral candidate, and has served as a teacher in public, private, and charter schools throughout the District of Columbia, including Paul Junior High School/Public Charter School in Ward-4, and has an extensive and thorough understanding of implementing regulations and best practices in today’s classrooms, which face many challenges. As a Teach for America alumnus and Board-Certified Special Educator, she has worked directly with exceptional students, and has adapted instruction to the improvements of the guidelines set by the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to ensure that ALL students are given an opportunity to reach their full potential through meaningful content, activities, and assessments. With her devoted years of experience to the students of DC and her in-depth knowledge of education's laws and regulations, An Almquist is the only qualified candidate for the job. Thank you, and we hope to have your vote on April 26th! (Message Approved by the Committee to Elect An Almquist) |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the Almquist info! I'm not promising her my vote, but I'll definitely check out her positions on the issues I care about. Will you be around for follow-up questions, or should I just go to the campaign? |
takoma
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I just did a quick Google to see what I could find out about the other candidates.
D. Kamili Anderson writes and edits for education journals and is president of Brightwood Citizens Association. James Garay Heelan is the only Latino (who'da known?) candidate. I think I have seen him at ANC meetings (he lives about half a mile from me), but don't know much else. Bill Quirk is chair of ANC 4D. I have not found anything yet on Andrew Moss. Here is a link to the DCBOEE list of candidates: http://www.dcboee.org/newsroom/showASPfile.asp?cat=News%20Releases&id=677&mid=1&yid=2011 |
Anonymous
Garay is a Spanish surname. But I see your point. John McCain was born in Panama and lives in Arizona. How is he not hispanic? 
Thanks for info Jeff. One of these days I'll do my own research. (OK, maybe not. Thanks in advance of future elections.) |
jsteele
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Several of the At-Large candidates have provided statements to DCUM. Here is the complete list to date:
Josh Lopez http://www.dcurbanmom.com/weblog/2011/03/01/lopez Arkan Haile http://www.dcurbanmom.com/weblog/2011/03/04/haile Patrick Mara http://www.dcurbanmom.com/weblog/2011/03/07/maria (yes, I mistyped that when I posted it) Bryan Weaver http://www.dcurbanmom.com/weblog/2011/03/09/weaver |
Anonymous
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I really like Weaver, and if you've met him in person, you can understand his appeal. That said, I don't think he has what it takes to be the independent voice that the City Council needs. I plan to vote for Patrick Mara. He's a "good" Republican and I think that the City Council needs some diversity of opinion.
I said this in another post, but Fenty's recent statements about his disdain for public employee's rights to organize show that while he was officially a Democrat, his views are actually much more closely aligned with those of the Republican party. DC has been a one-party District for so long that simply calling oneself a Democrat is meaningless. |
Anonymous
| Re: Ms. Almquist, this may be unfair, but when I see "visiting professor" and "doctoral candidate" in her press materials, I don't get the impression that she is someone who will be around for the long haul (although I see she has taught in various DC schools). Could someone elaborate? |
Anonymous
No problem - I'm her husband and Committee Chairman. The previous post was meant to have my ID on it, but it somehow showed up as Anonymous..... An would respond personally if she had time today, but she's teaching afternoon and night classes. The answer is that graduate-level professors are only given a "visiting" status if they have not yet completed their dissertation. Although her Ed.S. (Educational Specialist) degree from GW is a terminal degree, they don't recognize it for a graduate level professorship status. She also has her MAT (Masters of Education in Teaching) from American University. With her training based in education and her experience IN THE SCHOOLS, all-around, she is the most qualified candidate for the job, and we want everyone to know that. As far as the "long haul", we've lived in DC since 2002, were married in 2007, have lived at our current home in Ward-4 since 2009, have a puppy, and we plan on staying. (My Home Depot bill proves it) To shed more light on her, An's an educator at heart, and not a politician. So, if you want someone that is only going to use this position as a springboard to run for a Council seat, vote for them. Otherwise, An should be your choice for Ward-4. We both grew up in Pennsylvania where we both went to public schools in rural communities (my mascot was a "Grape Picker" - really). However, the quality of education was there, as was the drive to learn, and the vast majority of students went on to higher education, which is a stark difference from what we see in DC, and she often wondered what she could do about it, until this opportunity to run for the Ward-4 SBOE. She is very well versed in the issues, as her current job is to lend her expertise to other teachers in the program (NCUE) so that they can understand the nuances of teaching in the District. She is very committed to seeing REAL reform in the schools that go beyond unions and other issues that the SBOE has no control over. Her real focus is in increasing the "rigor" by which we allow students to matriculate through the grades or graduate, which also pushes teachers to perform better and teach more to the students in order to keep up with the curriculum. Really a win-win. Additionally, she is an advocate for immediate change in the area of Special Education. She has witnessed first-hand in nearly every DCPS school, on the ground and in the classroom, the current state of special education (how many other candidates can even say they've been inside 5 schools recently?). DCPS and charter schools have made improvements over the last few years, but there are still too many inadequacies to mention. However, An has to have your vote in order to help make those changes a reality!! An can be contacted for comment at electalmquist@gmail.com - John Almquist (I will only comment on the other candidates in that I know one was a former teacher (Moss) now in the Treas. Dept., Ms. Anderson has never taught in the classroom (to my knowledge from her ANC comments), and the rest are lawyers that appear to be looking to use the position to further their own career. Also, you should ask JGH, if you're wife is a teacher, then why would that make you feel qualified to run for the SBOE?) |