Results tagged “campaign2010”

Yesterday the Washington Post asked a number of local political watchers, myself included, if we thought Mayor Adrian Fenty would be re-elected in 2010. Some said yes, others said no. I stressed that without a credible challenger – and none has yet stepped forward – Fenty would cruise to a second term. Well, if that capable challenger ends up being D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray, Fenty may have to start looking for a new job.

As expected, D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) today formally announced that he will be seeking re-election in 2010. The announcement was coupled with the launch of his campaign web site.

Rumors about a possible D.C. Council run by ANC 1C chair Bryan Weaver have been circulating for weeks now, and DCist had been dutifully pestering the longtime Adams Morgan activist to confirm his intentions for some time before ... getting royally scooped by Loose Lips this afternoon. Sigh. Weaver "filed exploratory papers with the Office of Campaign Finance on Tuesday," Mike DeBonis reports.

As the 2010 election season gets underway, DCist will endeavor to interview as many of the candidates for city office as we can. This week, we speak with At-large D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D), who is currently running for re-election.

Real estate mogul (and D.C. native) Don Peebles is thinking about giving Mayor Adrian Fenty a run for his money, according to a report this morning in the Washington Business Journal. Peebles told reporter Jonathan O'Connell that he will 'either run himself or support another candidate because of what he called "a continued pattern of a lack of oversight and accountabilty" under Fenty.' Harry Jaffe had previously reported the Peebles rumors in the Examiner, though the possibility that the businessman could run himself is a new development.

It's always seemed to me that Washington has a disproportionate number of residents who self-identify as libertarians. Perhaps it's just the nature of our politically-focused city, or the location of the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, et al and the subsequent deployment of so many Koch fellows here, but I've never met more libertarians in one city than I have in D.C. As such, I've always been surprised by the lack of an active D.C. Libertarian Party on the local politics front over the last several years. Even the small-in-number D.C. Republicans have an organized local party and a small staff, not to mention that the national Libertarian Party is headquartered right here in the Watergate. Turns out, D.C. resident Peter Orvetti is trying to change all that. Orvetti is spearheading a rebirth of a local chapter of the Libertarian Party. He's started a blog and a Facebook group dedicated to the endeavor, and has already convened the reborn party's first meeting.

Over the long weekend, DCist spotted the first yard sign we've seen so far for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's re-election campaign. This sign, with its trademark Fenty green, was planted in front of a home in the Logan Circle neighborhood. We've also seen a few blue and white Clark Ray for D.C. Council At-large signs popping up outside businesses in the Dupont Circle neighborhood's 17th Street corridor.

We all know that democracy is about competition and participation, but D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) must be wondering why he keeps getting challengers for his seat.

Unlike most of his colleagues, Ward 5 D.C. Council member Harry "Tommy" Thomas, Jr. isn't taking the summer off from reaching out to his constituents. He can't afford to, because the man has to run for re-election soon! Thomas has scheduled a series of "Councilmember on Your Corner" events this week (hat tip Bloomingdale (for now)), where Ward 5 residents can come and share their thoughts and concerns with their elected representative while standing in the heat out on the sidewalk. Got anything you'd like to say to Tommy? You can find him tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. up in Brookland, at the corner of 12th and Monroe Streets NE, and during the same time period on Tuesday in Bloomingdale (1st St. and RI Ave. NW), on Wednesday at the Lamond Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota Ave. NE) and on Thursday in Langston Carver at a location to be determined. Check Thomas's web site for updates.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is running for re-election, and so far no viable candidate has formally declared an intent to run against the incumbent (though there are plenty of rumors about At-large D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown). A story from the Examiner today may help persuade someone to step to the plate sooner rather than later, however. A recent poll conducted by D.C.-based Successful Capital Strategies shows that six in ten District Democrats would be "open" to voting for someone other than Fenty in the next election.