It’s All Still Up to Vince Gray

Posted by Tom in DC Life on 01 21st, 2010 | no responses

Photo by KCIvey For an election year, the District’s mayoral contest remains in low-gear at best, and stalled at worst. Though there’s been plenty of talk, plenty of polls and plenty of frustration with Mayor Adrian Fenty, no big-name contenders have yet stepped up to challenge him in September’s primary. While that’s still eight months off, Fenty’s already got $3 million in the bank, a re-election website and a smattering of yard signs. So what gives? Basically, everyone’s sitting around waiting to see what D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray does. And whether you consider Gray to be methodical or simply indecisive, he’s taking his sweet, sweet time. Florida-based developer Don Peebles made some early noise with a threat to bankroll his own insurgent campaign against Fenty , but earlier this month he said it wasn’t the right time , citing family concerns. (Some political analysts noted that he seemed to pull himself from the running before anyone could adequately dig into his past as a confidante of then Mayor Marion Barry.) Now, as D.C. Wire reports, Council member Michael Brown (I-At Large) is saying that he might be interested in running against Fenty — but only if Gray doesn’t. And even if Gray didn’t, Brown would have to either switch party affiliations and give up his council seat to run in the Democratic primary or risk challenging Fenty in the general election as an Independent. Neither seem an attractive option for a

man who only recently got elected to the council, and did so after years of running for a variety of elected offices, including for mayor in 2006. Sure, there are a few not terribly impressive candidates who have announced — including Leo Alexander and Sulaimon Brown — but both face massively uphill battles for attention and votes. So Gray remains the go-to guy. But the longer he waits to decide, the more he runs the risk of being painted as a guy who isn’t really convinced that he can beat Fenty. And in politics, not being your own strongest advocate — regardless of how much of a longshot your candidacy might be — is a surefire way to lose an election. The wait-and-see game with Gray has gone on for so long that this week’s Washington City Paper finds Loose Lips’ Mike DeBonis floating the names of six prominent Washingtonians — none currently in elected office — who he’d like to see challenge Fenty, including WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi, the Post’s Colbert King and former control board chief Alice Rivlin. Of course, the list is mostly tongue-in-cheek: the chances of any of these folks taking on Fenty is slim to none. Until Gray definitively says yes or no to running, the Anyone but Fenty crowd will have no one to lead it into this year’s election.