DC Mayoral Race
The race to become DC mayor is heating up as most candidates have now officially put their names on the ballot. Like we always do at this time, we will be picking each candidate apart and laying out the FACTS. One thing that immediately jumps out is the lack of women on the ballot. Of the 6 democratic candidates, only one is a woman, the incumbent mayor Muriel Bowser. Interestingly, of the remaining 6 candidates, 4 are women.
Muriel Bowser will be the most familiar to readers outside of DC as the first mayor to establish a “Black Lives Matter Plaza” after protestors (some of our dear friends) painted the street in front of the White House to say “Black Lives Matter\Defund MPD” referring to the DC Metropolitan Police Department. The second part was conveniently left off the sanitized version of the street art that was unveiled to the world as Muriel’s response to President Trump, who at the time was being blamed(deservedly) for violence that was being carried out by the secret service, park police, and MPD on peaceful protestors. This is the same police department that Bowser wants to reinforce if she is re-elected. She seems to be determined to be the Mayor that brings statehood to DC, potentially guaranteeing a spot in the governor’s seat. It will surely be a difficult journey, she has faced plenty of criticism unrelated to her love of police. DC has experienced dangerously high homicide rates in the last few years of her term. That combined with a growing lack of affordable housing makes it hard to see her becoming the first DC mayor to win a third term since the legendary Marion Berry.
Trayon White is another fairly familiar name having been on the city council since 2016 as a representative of ward 8. Since then he has stayed in the headlines through a variety of interesting stunts. Announcing his candidacy through the @washingtonianprobs comment section is just the latest in a long line of interesting online behavior. There was the time he posted a facebook video claiming that a prominent Jewish family controls the weather. Or the time that he staged a protest at a construction site to complain that jobs are going to immigrants instead of residents of the ward. There’s also the countless times that he has posted anti-vax content on his social media despite being vaccinated. He is in fact the only council member to have voted against a vaccine mandate for council members and their families. Despite having no clearly defined agenda, White has criticized Bowser for her response to gun violence and inadequate affordable housing.
Robert White(no relation) is also a current council member though slightly more progressive than his colleague. Robert has been responsible for passing bills to charge higher taxes to the wealthy and enact a paid parental leave. He was strongly against Bowser’s decision to clear homeless encampments during hypothermia, claiming that the goal of her initiative was to “move” them with no concern for permanent housing. He is a big advocate for police reform and wants to DEFUND the police in order to allocate funds to more effective crime prevention tactics.
James Butler is a former ward 5 ANC commissioner who considers himself a departure from the status quo. He lost the 2018 Mayoral race by 54,000 votes and he must believe that he
has a chance to close that gap. James aims to combat gentrification and provide more resources to vulnerable populations. He plans to do this by supporting reparations for black residents, providing temporary housing, social services, behavioral, and mental health resources people experiencing homelessness. He believes that he can do this while increasing the number of police, creating a gun unit, and enforcing no loitering laws...James is severely mistaken.
Another hope...ful candidate is Michael Campbell who is a pastor at Kingdom Driven Ministry, a “non-profit public charity established to advance the Kingdom of God, with specific emphasis on East Africa”. He has done plenty of work with gun violence prevention as part of Rev.Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. He is an advocate for a $20 minimum wage and wants to build a tiny homes village to help homeless people transition to permanent housing. Oh and he also believes that increasing police salaries will help to reduce crime.
Rounding out the democrats is Andre Delontae Davis, a former teacher who is obsessed with performing arts according to his website. Andre supports affordable housing and education reforms. He plans to reallocate the police budget as well as demilitarizing the police, especially during peaceful protests.
DC is an overly democratic city so it is unlikely that any outsiders will fall through the cracks but just in case we’ve got you covered:
Corren Brown: Statehood Green Party\Correctional Officer for 6 years\wants to change policing. Lori Furstenberg: Republican\wants to end mask and vaccine mandate\coined “mandate muriel” Stacia Hall: Republican\wants to reopen schools and churches\family values. Dustin Canter: Independent\trauma survivor training for cops\teaching kids cooperation with cops. Rodney Grant: Independent\comedian\educational equity\supports statehood.