It’s finally election day in Washington, D.C. (and Maryland).
With all the attempts– and by this I mostly mean television ads– to frame Mayoral challenger Vincent Gray as regressive and old skool, I found it interesting that GLAA, The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., gave Gray a score that was twice as high as Adrian Fenty’s on their primary ratings, a screen shot of which is to the right.
Fenty disagrees with GLAA on a number of issues, and his record is mixed. While his administration led the exceptional legal fight to keep and defend our marriage rights; they also spent nearly two years obstructing the Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination of Parentage Act, which is now a model law protecting the rights and responsibilities of LGBT parents. We were struck by the numerous promises made four years ago that were promptly broken.
WAMU 88.5′s The Kojo Nnamdi Show and The City Paper collaborated on a poll of registered voters, asking them about the obvious (Mayoral candidates) and the not-so-obvious (“Mayor For Life” Marion Barry).
While a lot of the Twitterati are focusing on Vince Gray’s 50-39 lead over Adrian Fenty, I’d like to highlight this, from the WCP:
One question looked at yet another polarizing figure in D.C. politics: former Mayor Marion Barry, now a Ward 8 councilmember.
20 percent said Barry “should be respected as ‘Mayor for Life’ and celebrated as a civil rights hero.”
36 percent said Barry “should remain in politics as long as he likes and is re-elected.”
32 percent said Barry “should retire gracefully and go away from public life.”
Have you seen “Formerly Fenty“? It’s an offshoot of Vince Gray’s campaign site featuring voters who were once fans of our current Mayor. Most interesting/potentially damning? The videos from two ex-Fenty staffers, who describe their issues with their erstwhile boss. Here’s his quondam Deputy Chief of Staff, Neil Richardson:
On TBD’s “NewsTalk“, Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh just endorsed Vince Gray for Mayor.
I haven’t taken a formal position on the Mayor’s race, but I’ve been asked by many many people how I’m going to vote and I can tell you I did vote yesterday– I voted for myself– but I voted for Vince Gray.
And I’m going to support Vince Gray and I hope the residents of my ward and around the district also support Vince Gray because I think having worked with him over the past four years, shoulder-to-shoulder, I have become an admirer and I was someone who came skeptically to him because I supported his opponent when he ran for chair. But he’s a man of integrity, he’s thoughtful he’s intelligent and he’ll be a leader, the kind of leader that we need now.
Good morning, DCentric readers! While you were watching Top Chef DC (and tweeting your anguished reactions), we were finding tasty links for you to enjoy!
Can the LGBT vote rescue Mendelson? “A Washington Post poll showing that the largely unknown D.C. shadow senator, Michael D. Brown, is leading incumbent Council member Phil Mendelson by 17 points in the at-large City Council race has shocked the city’s political establishment and raised the question of whether LGBT voters could save Mendelson from defeat.” (ashingtonblade.com)
Twitter breaks story on Discovery Channel gunman “…for raw speed and real-time eyewitness accounts, it’s now virtually impossible for the mainstream media to keep pace with the likes of Twitter. The service enables anyone equipped with a smartphone to tell the world what he or she sees in 140-character bursts. Twitpic (as well as similar sites) can let them see it.” (The Washington Post)
Resident to Launch First of Three Health-Conscious Restaurants “By the end of the year she expects to open her first restaurant in downtown D.C., and her later plans call for opening another in Chevy Chase as well as a Centric Kitchen in Georgetown…“Everything’s steamed, baked, grilled or broiled, and it’s all whole grain,” Finley said. “Nothing is fried and everything’s made to order right on the spot,” she continued. “There is meat, but it’s chicken, bison and ostrich – things that are low in fat.”” (afro.com) Continue reading →
Look what I missed, while I was running around looking for my “Reporting for Dummies” book; after today’s debate at the Newseum, the City Paper’s Loose Lips got mischievous.
When Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli went over to Gray after the debate to introduce himself, LL couldn’t help but try and stir the pot, asking Gray what he thought of the Post’s editorial page. Which, in case you didn’t know, is very pro-Fenty. (And, also in case you didn’t know, a part of the paper Brauchli has nothing to do with.)
Depending on what sticker one was wearing, half of a crowd would cheer wildly as people exited the Newseum.
Mayoral challenger and current Council Chairman Vincent Gray put Mayor Adrian Fenty on the defensive at the Big Debate which just occurred at the Newseum; yes, I know it ended an hour ago. But I promise, you’ll appreciate my inability to update this space in SUPER-FAST fashion when you read the last paragraph! No, really, lower your expectations right now, please. I’m not DCist or the Washington Post (one of the sponsors of this Big Deal, along with WRC-4 and my wonderful, supportive, delightful employer: WAMU). I’m just a blogger who was chosen to write about a city I love. So that’s what I’ll do.
Last week, we mentioned that DC voters might be confusing Michael D. Brown, a last minute candidate for the At-Large Council seat who is running against Phil Mendelson, with Michael A. Brown, a Council member who is not on the ballot this year. Michael D. Brown is white, Michael A. Brown is black. A new poll of Democratic voters from the Washington Post finds that Michael D. Brown is now leading Mendelson by 17%. Brown has a 12% lead among likely voters and is popular with African Americans. Via the Washington Post:
The numbers also show Michael D. Brown, who lives in Ward 3′s American University Park in Northwest, registering his strongest support from residents who live east of the Anacostia in Wards 7 and 8. More than half (51 percent) of polled voters there say they favor Brown; 11 percent say they back Mendelson. More broadly, support for Michael D. across the city tracks almost exactly with Michael A.’s showing in the 2008 election results.
Though it’s a few days old, my Twitter is abuzz (again) with references to this video produced by Ron Moten for his pal, the Mayor: “Don’t leave us, Fenty”. If you can’t (or don’t want to) watch it, I’ll summarize it by saying that Moten borrowed BLACKstreet’s hit from 1996, “Don’t Leave Me” to create his jam. I can’t be the only one who thought of Tupac’s “I Ain’t Mad Atcha” when I heard the familiar melody, not when both BLACKstreet and ‘Pac sample the same song (“A Dream“) from DeBarge.
