Yet Another Barry Challenger

Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry has still more competition in his re-election bid.

Charles E. Wilson, a 32-year-old Anacostia resident, tells LL he’s going to be challenging Barry for the Democratic nomination to the Ward 8 council seat. He joins longtime also-ran Sandra “S.S.” Seegars and Yavocka Young, the head of the Main Street Anacostia nonprofit.

Wilson’s lived in the ward for two years, after moving from Ward 5. He’s the co-founder of the Historic Anacostia Block Association, which helps clean up the neighborhood. Wilson says his biggest success was taking advantage of a dormant city program that aims to help homeowners fix up historically significant homes.

“I’m proud of the success that we’ve had on a smaller level,” he says. “I believe that we can do it on a much larger level.”

Wilson, however, declines to speak ill of the incumbent. “I’m not gonna run based on me running against Marion Barry,” he says. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the man, but the theme of the campaign is, We set the tone.”

Wilson, who holds a law degree and works as a consultant for an accounting firm, says his message has three prongs: “The [Greater Southeast Community] hospital, economic development, and creating jobs for residents—that’s gonna be pretty much my platform,” he says.

Sounds a lot like Young’s platform to LL’s ears. What are Wilson’s chances against Barry—who finally started raising money last week? Hard to say: Asked how much money he’s raised to date or to name any supporters, Wilson declined.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Anacostia, Marion Barry, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.