DC Primary - who are the candidates?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
DCUM is my primary means of learning information about our local candidates. The mailings I get tell me about their resumes. The supporters I meet say they are all good people.
Can someone (Jeff?) run down the candidates for at-large and Ward 4 seats on the council? |
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Site Admin Offline
|
At-Large:
Incumbent is Vincent Orange. He is a long-time DC politician who has previously run for mayor, lost, and worked as a PEPCO lobbyist. He received a lot of money from Jeff Thompson, some of it pretty suspicious, but doesn't seem to have been indicted. He tends to be pro-business, but of course shifts to where the wind is blowing. He currently seems to be aligned with Muriel Bowser though they haven't been close historically. He was endorsed by the Washington Post. Robert White is a former Congressional staffer of Eleanor Holmes Norton. He previously ran for the At-Large seat as an Independent. After losing, he went to work in Attorney General Karl Racine's office. He is a Ward 4 resident and was active in neighborhood politics. White has won the endorsements of the "progressive" groups in DC such as DC For Democracy and GGW. I've already voted and voted for White. David Garber, I don't know too much about Garber. I believe he is or has been a substitute teacher and apparently owns rental properties and has some very upset renters. He seems to be popular among some of those I follow on Twitter. Ward 4: Incumbent is Brandon Todd from whom I assume you have receive multiple phone calls by now. I've gone from being polite, to polite but stern, to stern, to rude with the callers since they have ignored my repeated requests to stop calling me. Todd is a protege of Muriel Bowser and hand-picked to take her seat. Predictably, he has followed her lead in his Council votes. In my experience, he has been fairly visible in the community, but not very responsive. Leon Andrews is making his second run for the office. He works at the National League of Cities and, as you would expect, seems to be very knowledgeable about the issues facing cities. In this race, I am a one issue voter and that issue is Brandon Todd. Since Leon Andrews is not Brandon Todd, I voted for him. Ron Austin is also making his second run for the office. Ron is a very good guy who has a lot of experience in ward politics. But, he got so few votes last time that I really haven't considered him a contender this time. Calvin Gurley is making his 77th billion run for one office or another. Surprisingly, he can talk a pretty good game which distracts you temporarily from his craziness. If you want to elect a listserv troll, vote for Gurley. |
Anonymous
| Thank you, very helpful. |
takoma
Member Offline
Member Offline
|
As a longtime resident of Ward 4, I agree almost word for word with Jeff's assessments. More persuasive than my agreement is the fact that the Northwest Current, which clearly puts a lot more thought into local politics than the Washington Post, also agrees. You can see their endorsements on page 8 of the last two issues:
http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%2006-01-2016.pdf and http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%2006-08-2016.pdf. |
Anonymous
| Ward 3 resident here. Already voted for White based on meeting him and the folks I know who are supporting him. Mary Cheh, the Ward 3 council member is actively supporting him and spoke at the event I attended. If you do not like Orange (as many do not) I think White is the most likely candidate to beat him. |
Anonymous
| I listened to the kojo episode where he had the 3 at-large candidates on and thought Orange came off terribly. White wasn't all that impressive either - some of his answers seemed wacky. Garber didn't leave much of an impression one way or another but that may be because I assumed he has no chance so wasn't really paying as much attention to him. It's really too bad that DC can't get better local pols. The fact that there's no real chance for them to move up nationally hinders the talent pool I guess. |
Anonymous
| White is the DCUM pick. Orange doesn't compare. |
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Site Admin Offline
|
Robert White was able to defeat Vincent Orange and David Garber. Today's election was a near total wipe-out for Team Green with only Brandon Todd surviving. The Council will be significantly reshaped with two former Racine employees (both named White) joining the Council and the return of Vincent Gray.
|
Anonymous
I'm heartbroken. The dumbest one survived! |
Anonymous
| Vincent Gray is going to give the Mayor HELL! |
Anonymous
Where do you Jeff, and others think, the repudiation of Team Green and the Mayor is coming from? The insider deals, DC General closure or underlying economic issues? I'm also a bit surprised at the Clinton-Sanders margin, even as a longtime Hillary supporter in DC. |
Anonymous
Me again. I guess I should have said why I voted for Robert White - I feel like DC council politics is going back in time, and the Mayor is part of that. I was a Catania voter btw during the mayoral race. |
Anonymous
|
Anonymous
Is this a good or a bad thing? I'm new here... |
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Site Admin Offline
Both Orange and Alexander are relative newcomers to Team Green. I would have put both in the Vincent Gray orbit not that long ago. Especially Alexander who was a protege of Gray's. But, political expediency led Orange and Alexander to sidle up to Bowser and her machine. Gray has always been popular in Ward 7 and there are many -- especially in that part of town -- who feel that he got a raw deal from the USAO. So, there is a bit of getting back at the system going on. Orange is more of a surprise. He has been vulnerable the last several elections, but been saved by his opponents splitting the vote. White was lucky that only Garber joined the race, and then he completely collapsed. Orange could easily have been beaten the same way in the last two elections if the third place candidate had taken a few less votes. Therefore, you could argue -- and Bowser's people probably will argue -- that neither of these losses really had anything to do with an anti-Bowser wave and that neither candidate was really a Team Green member anyway. May is a different story. She is part and parcel of Team Green. But, White (the other one) also benefited from a fairly united opposition, his own popularity, and -- I assume -- resentment of Bowser and her machine. |