Someone posted the following on the FCCA listserve this morning:

“Very early in the race I spoke with Frumin about both school plans. He was then--and he is today--against the Foxhall School and doesn't think it will ultimately happen.”

Is Frumin really against Foxhall?

Shorter version: Please don't hold it against me that I was a registered Republican, I did it entirely for careerist reasons.


As if somehow that makes it better.

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Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

She was a Republican until five minutes ago and has donated to Mike Pence.

And to Fenty, Bowser and other democrats. The article said she contributed to Pence's gubernatorial campaign in 2012, not recently.

So? Pence was well-known for his regressive, hard-right views as a Congressperson before he ran for governor. Monash also remained a Republican throughout most of the Trump years. Completely disqualifying.

I will vote for her. I look more holistically at candidates. We need someone who is going to tackle crime and she said that's her number one issue. She sends her kid to a social justice school, not a conservative religious one. People are complex.

A "holistic" view will show that she was a committed Republican for more than 20 years and now sees switching her registration as a shortcut to power. She could have run as a Republican. Why didn't she?

She has addressed this. She also said she voted for Hilary. She is also for public safety, which I fully support.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/candidate-profile-monte-monash-city-council-ward-3

How did she address it?

Since you asked, here's her pinned tweet on Twitter. I consolidated the posts. I don't care whether you like her or not, but it is good to actually form opinions by doing research.


🧵 Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a proud DC native. I was born a into a strong Democratic family & my journey has been interesting. My mother & step-father, both now deceased, LOVED this city. They dedicated their lives to public service & helping others.


My mother, Aurelia Corbett King, was a Ward 1 ANC Commissioner. Our door was always open, the phone never stopped ringing and a trip to the grocery store became her office hours. She was an At-Large member of the Democratic State Committee for over 20 years.
Monte Monash for DC Ward 3
@MonteMonash

She was on a slate w/familiar names like Paula Nickens, Mark Plotkin, & John Hechinger. My step-father, Wayne P. King was the Constituent Services Aid to Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy for his entire time in office.

We were always in campaign mode. My earliest memory is of being in a stroller with campaign literature in my lap and campaign buttons all over my hat.


I grew up in the shadow of uncle Ron & Auntie Roscoe Dellums and cousin Walter Tucker, II. I even had two family members elected as Mayor in Compton, CA. All democrats. Like my family, service is my heart and I’m passionate about meeting community challenges with hard work.

So how did I become the lone Republican from this proud, active family of Democrats? Sorry folks, there is no big controversy here. I was introduced to the Republican Party when I was a Democratic Congressional Page.

That year the R’s didn’t have enough senior members to select Pages, so there was a trade and I was moved to the other side of the aisle. Many new relationships were established, but I never thought of changing parties until the George W. Bush administration was considering me for two appointments, both working with urban communities. I was not chosen for the first opportunity b/c I wasn’t a registered R and was advised to change. This was an agonizing decision. I always had friends & mentors that were both Ds & Rs.

I have never discounted anyone because of their party affiliation & thank God my friends never did either.

Alma Powell & Elayne Bennett were my mentors. Alma in particular, was a great example of change from within. Her voice was always consistent & respected in the Republican & Democratic circles. She encouraged me to do the same; be who I am, and never lose myself on this journey.

I switched parties to make change from within. I did not get that appointment position, but there were many opportunities where my voice in the room made a difference and changed perspectives. I was not an active Republican, nor did I advocate for issues like guns and tobacco.

I was at the table working on youth programs and state and local infrastructure. My voice was consistent and representative of the values I was raised with. Even as a Republican in DC, I supported exclusively Democrats by campaigning, hosting events and volunteering.

I have been appointed four times to serve on boards and commissions and my party designation has not been a barrier. It is well known I am committed to doing the work in service to this city that I love.

Fast forward to this Ward 3 DC Council race…

Why change my party designation? The answer is, the Republican Party has changed drastically & it was time for me to get back to my political roots. I’m proud to be the poster child for folks returning to the Democratic Party and for those who want to join for the first time.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

She was a Republican until five minutes ago and has donated to Mike Pence.

And to Fenty, Bowser and other democrats. The article said she contributed to Pence's gubernatorial campaign in 2012, not recently.

So? Pence was well-known for his regressive, hard-right views as a Congressperson before he ran for governor. Monash also remained a Republican throughout most of the Trump years. Completely disqualifying.

I will vote for her. I look more holistically at candidates. We need someone who is going to tackle crime and she said that's her number one issue. She sends her kid to a social justice school, not a conservative religious one. People are complex.

A "holistic" view will show that she was a committed Republican for more than 20 years and now sees switching her registration as a shortcut to power. She could have run as a Republican. Why didn't she?

She has addressed this. She also said she voted for Hilary. She is also for public safety, which I fully support.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/candidate-profile-monte-monash-city-council-ward-3

How did she address it?

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Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

Zero chance to win. I’m voting for Goulet. He’s the only one who is taking the soaring crime rate in ward 3 seriously

And the rest of the Council - you know, those who he will need to actually do anything at all - are going to take him seriously knowing that he got there through using questions about how to increase diversity in the Ward to complain about crime committed by African American voucher recipients? Having a council-member prone to racist tropes hasn’t worked out too well for Ward 8. It wouldn’t work out too well for Ward 3 either.

That's all you got against Goulet? This doesn't bother me in the least.

It doesn't bother you that his response to a question about how to attract and retain residents of color to Ward 3 was to {falsely} complain that all of the black residents in Ward 3 were on vouchers?

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

Zero chance to win. I’m voting for Goulet. He’s the only one who is taking the soaring crime rate in ward 3 seriously

And the rest of the Council - you know, those who he will need to actually do anything at all - are going to take him seriously knowing that he got there through using questions about how to increase diversity in the Ward to complain about crime committed by African American voucher recipients? Having a council-member prone to racist tropes hasn’t worked out too well for Ward 8. It wouldn’t work out too well for Ward 3 either.

That's all you got against Goulet? This doesn't bother me in the least.

What? That he will be counter-productive? That he will set back the issues you profess to care about? You must really hate yourself.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

Zero chance to win. I’m voting for Goulet. He’s the only one who is taking the soaring crime rate in ward 3 seriously

And the rest of the Council - you know, those who he will need to actually do anything at all - are going to take him seriously knowing that he got there through using questions about how to increase diversity in the Ward to complain about crime committed by African American voucher recipients? Having a council-member prone to racist tropes hasn’t worked out too well for Ward 8. It wouldn’t work out too well for Ward 3 either.

That's all you got against Goulet? This doesn't bother me in the least.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

She was a Republican until five minutes ago and has donated to Mike Pence.

And to Fenty, Bowser and other democrats. The article said she contributed to Pence's gubernatorial campaign in 2012, not recently.

So? Pence was well-known for his regressive, hard-right views as a Congressperson before he ran for governor. Monash also remained a Republican throughout most of the Trump years. Completely disqualifying.

I will vote for her. I look more holistically at candidates. We need someone who is going to tackle crime and she said that's her number one issue. She sends her kid to a social justice school, not a conservative religious one. People are complex.

A "holistic" view will show that she was a committed Republican for more than 20 years and now sees switching her registration as a shortcut to power. She could have run as a Republican. Why didn't she?

She has addressed this. She also said she voted for Hilary. She is also for public safety, which I fully support.

https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/candidate-profile-monte-monash-city-council-ward-3

Goulet apparently saw the writing on the wall that the only people opposed to MacArthur were a small group of Foxhallers just around the park. It was an issue that would not help him more broadly since the vast majority of families want some relief from school overcrowding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monte Monash looks promising as a candidate.

She was a Republican until five minutes ago and has donated to Mike Pence.

And to Fenty, Bowser and other democrats. The article said she contributed to Pence's gubernatorial campaign in 2012, not recently.

So? Pence was well-known for his regressive, hard-right views as a Congressperson before he ran for governor. Monash also remained a Republican throughout most of the Trump years. Completely disqualifying.

I will vote for her. I look more holistically at candidates. We need someone who is going to tackle crime and she said that's her number one issue. She sends her kid to a social justice school, not a conservative religious one. People are complex.

Which school?

I want someone with skin in the public school game.

One kid in DCPS middle school and one kid at a Sheridan/Lowell school.

Anonymous wrote:The Foxhallers are not pissed because Goulet apparently came out in favor of MacArthur HS at the debate last night, blatantly contradicting what he told them in private last Friday. I guess it never occurred to them candidates could be willing to lie in order to win votes.

The Foxhallers live in a rich fantasy world where everyone would feel as they do if they just knew what they know. They're easy marks.

^ now pissed

The Foxhallers are not pissed because Goulet apparently came out in favor of MacArthur HS at the debate last night, blatantly contradicting what he told them in private last Friday. I guess it never occurred to them candidates could be willing to lie in order to win votes.

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Anonymous wrote:Yeah, given this position, I need to know who I can vote for who will beat this guy (and that supports the already-approved, logical choice for a new HS and ES).

Mary Cheh has made her decision and is supporting Tricia Duncan. That's how to defeat Goulet.

And that should now be the end of it. Ballots are arriving now in people's mailboxes. Bergman, Brown, Cohen, Finley, and Frumin need to withdraw now and endorse Duncan. She is not perfect by any stretch and one could argue that any of those other five would make better CMs, but I'd much rather have her as CM than Goulet and I hope each of them would too.

Yes, this will absolutely marshall the support of Mary Cheh stans for Duncan. That should net her about 12 votes.

Do you have a better method to consolidate the field or do you want Goulet to be elected?

I’m just not sure why you would assume that this non-endorsement from someone whose constituents don’t particularly care for her will have a such a big impact on the race. While I don’t want to see Goulet elected, to suggest that it’s now down to him and Duncan now is silly. It’s especially silly to suggest that Matt Frumin, who has a big base of support and has been very successful in fundraising, should stand down. The others probably should have dropped out a while ago (although I have a soft spot for Henry Cohen).

Why do you assume no one likes Cheh? She would have been re-elected in a landslide.

Frumin has a big lead in fundraising, but all but $4k out that lead comes from people who don’t live in the ward. I can’t say - and you can’t say - who is more likely to be elected out of the two of them, but we do know the chance of Goulet being elected is much higher if neither of them drops out.

Cheh would have won on intertia, but let's be honest, no one really likes her as a councilmember. She has always hated campaigning and her constituent services have always been a joke. She never went to ANC meetings or was out in the community other than doing her own personal errands.

She won by massive margins every year and would have done so again this year but "no one really likes her as a councilmember." You're going to have to show your work on that one.

It’s easy to “win by massive margins” when no one runs against you. Incumbents are very, very hard to dislodge. I will give her credit for not running again; many people are not willing to give up power like that, so good for her to make room for someone new.

Care to check the results of the 2020 DC Council elections? A number of incumbents were dislodged. Do you want to make the case that Ward 3 is more incumbent-friendly than the rest of the city?

Brandon Todd is the only Council incumbent who lost in 2020. He was uniquely bad and still attracted only two primary challengers, only one of whom could marshall any meaningful support. Ward 2 was an open seat because Jack Evans—who held the seat for almost 30 years—was forced to resign.

More to the point, you can’t claim an incumbent without a challenger “won by massive margins.”

If Cheh was so hated and vulnerable, as you claim, how come she rarely got serious challengers? If she was so disliked, people would have been lining up to run against her.

Because it is very hard to beat an incumbent and it isn't worth the time or money, generally, to try.

Not really. Janeese beat Brandon Todd easily, to cite a recent example.

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Anonymous wrote:Yeah, given this position, I need to know who I can vote for who will beat this guy (and that supports the already-approved, logical choice for a new HS and ES).

Mary Cheh has made her decision and is supporting Tricia Duncan. That's how to defeat Goulet.

And that should now be the end of it. Ballots are arriving now in people's mailboxes. Bergman, Brown, Cohen, Finley, and Frumin need to withdraw now and endorse Duncan. She is not perfect by any stretch and one could argue that any of those other five would make better CMs, but I'd much rather have her as CM than Goulet and I hope each of them would too.

Yes, this will absolutely marshall the support of Mary Cheh stans for Duncan. That should net her about 12 votes.

Do you have a better method to consolidate the field or do you want Goulet to be elected?

I’m just not sure why you would assume that this non-endorsement from someone whose constituents don’t particularly care for her will have a such a big impact on the race. While I don’t want to see Goulet elected, to suggest that it’s now down to him and Duncan now is silly. It’s especially silly to suggest that Matt Frumin, who has a big base of support and has been very successful in fundraising, should stand down. The others probably should have dropped out a while ago (although I have a soft spot for Henry Cohen).

Why do you assume no one likes Cheh? She would have been re-elected in a landslide.

Frumin has a big lead in fundraising, but all but $4k out that lead comes from people who don’t live in the ward. I can’t say - and you can’t say - who is more likely to be elected out of the two of them, but we do know the chance of Goulet being elected is much higher if neither of them drops out.

Cheh would have won on intertia, but let's be honest, no one really likes her as a councilmember. She has always hated campaigning and her constituent services have always been a joke. She never went to ANC meetings or was out in the community other than doing her own personal errands.

She won by massive margins every year and would have done so again this year but "no one really likes her as a councilmember." You're going to have to show your work on that one.

It’s easy to “win by massive margins” when no one runs against you. Incumbents are very, very hard to dislodge. I will give her credit for not running again; many people are not willing to give up power like that, so good for her to make room for someone new.

Care to check the results of the 2020 DC Council elections? A number of incumbents were dislodged. Do you want to make the case that Ward 3 is more incumbent-friendly than the rest of the city?

Brandon Todd is the only Council incumbent who lost in 2020. He was uniquely bad and still attracted only two primary challengers, only one of whom could marshall any meaningful support. Ward 2 was an open seat because Jack Evans—who held the seat for almost 30 years—was forced to resign.

More to the point, you can’t claim an incumbent without a challenger “won by massive margins.”

If Cheh was so hated and vulnerable, as you claim, how come she rarely got serious challengers? If she was so disliked, people would have been lining up to run against her.

Because it is very hard to beat an incumbent and it isn't worth the time or money, generally, to try.