Posts Tagged ‘DCision 2010’
Fenty’s 39th Birthday Bash Set for Old Mayoral Mansion Site
The time has almost come for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's annual birthday spectacle.
Two years ago, Fenty threw a grand, open-door party at the Washington Convention Center. A year ago, Fenty kicked off his re-election campaign with a massive fete at the Forest Hills home of local developer Chris Donatelli. This year, for Hizzoner's 39th, the birthday bash/campaign fundraiser will also take place at a tony, oversized residence. This one, however, isn't occupied by any developer.
In fact, it's vacant. The Dec. 5 event will be held at 1821 Hoban Road NW, a 7,000-square-foot, six-bedroom model home built as part of the Residences at 1801 Foxhall, a development of 27 single-family homes in the upscale Ward 3 neighborhood.
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Jim Graham’s New Logo Embraces Sartorial Trademark
Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham today kicked off his re-election campaign. That involved launching a new Web site---complete with oodles of listed accomplishments, a YouTube video, and...a new logo.
Notice any familiar accouterments?
District Limerick: Happy Birthday, Councilmembers!
This month as the Council is aging
'Round town many parties are raging
Got mayoral hopes?
Then get off the ropes
With donors, you'd best start engaging
Your birthday means more than a bash
It's also a chance to raise cash
The constituent fund
Is best when fecund
Get in there and add to your stash!
Fenty Fundraises in San Francisco
Another day with no public appearances by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, another day of reporters wondering where the man has jetted off to.
LL learns that Hizzoner is in San Francisco today---first off, to attend the Urban Land Institute's fall meeting in order to drum up interest in next year's shindig, to be held here in D.C.
But while there, he will be attending a fundraiser to benefit his re-election campaign, thrown by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, fresh off his decision not to pursue a gubernatorial bid. LL is guessing that of all the Frisco big shots invited, developer and ex-D.C. United owner Victor MacFarlane will not be among them.
Can you feel Mark Segraves' blood boiling yet?
Jim Graham Attracts a Potential Challenger
Is someone finally taking a whack at scandal-softened Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham?
Bryan Weaver, the longtime Adams Morgan activist and advisory neighborhood commissioner, filed exploratory papers with the Office of Campaign Finance on Tuesday.
To explore a run against the sure-to-be-well-financed three-term incumbent, Weaver has thus far raised the princely sum of $2,500.
Exploratory bids have been rare since campaign finance laws changed some years back, but Weaver, 39, says his campaign is indeed merely speculative at the moment. “I have my opinions on what’s important to me and to the ward,” he says. “Maybe it’s a minority opinion, I don’t know.” Hence the de rigueur “listening tour.”
Tipper Gore Stumps for Council Hopeful Clark Ray
Last night's Georgetown fundraiser for Clark Ray's D.C. Council campaign saw a visit from an old friend of the candidate: shoulda-been First Lady Tipper Gore.
Ray spent eight years with the Gores, including a stint as Tipper's chief of staff during her husband's 2000 presidential run.
Campaign mastermind Peter Rosenstein says the event, at the former Pamela Harriman mansion, attracted about 250 150. He named some attendees to LL: Ex-Indiana congressman Phil Sharp, ex-Hillary Clinton flack Kiki McLean, Dorothy Ford (Harold Ford Jr.'s mom), plus locals Kenny Barnes, Carlene Cheatam, Greg Rhett, and...Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans.
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It’s Polling Season in D.C. Politics
Well, we've got about 11 months before the all-important 2010 District of Columbia primaries. Just enough time, in other words, for candidates to gather some early information on how they stand with the city's electorate.
Which means polls!
Two of which City Desk has gotten some details on over the past couple of days. Details below.
Leo Alexander Explains His D.C. Mayor Run
Why is Leo Alexander running for mayor?
LL stopped by his kickoff event at the Channel Inn on Monday evening to ask the 45-year-old Brightwood resident and newcomer to electoral politics the first question any decent reporter is obligated to ask a candidate---especially one convinced (deluded?) that he can knock off well-financed incumbent Adrian M. Fenty.
His response: "I'm running because of the suffering that's going on in our community," the former TV reporter and government spokesperson says. "No one has a plan to attack generational poverty in our community."
Leo Alexander Joins 2010 Mayoral Fray
Another candidate is announcing a challenge to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and his $2.5 million war chest: Leo Alexander, a former WRC-TV newscaster, is announcing a mayoral run tonight.
Alexander will join Sulaimon Brown, a former Fenty 2006 volunteer, as Fenty's only declared competition for the 2010 race.
Alexander was a Channel 4 reporter in the mid-1990s before moving on to communications jobs for the D.C. General Hospital and the D.C. Housing Authority. A Brightwood resident since 1999, Alexander now works in insurance sales and has been active in the Brightwood Civic Association and the D.C. Federation of Civic Associations.
D.C. Gay Marriage Polling: Some Thoughts
In his column this week, LL makes a case for why supporters of gay marriage in the District should embrace the idea of a ballot initiative. Right now, the orthodoxy among marriage equality advocates is that such matters of civil rights should never be put up for a vote. That's a principle that's hard to dispute. LL, however, sees an exception where civil rights would win big, and where pounding the opposition into dust would not only feel really good but also advance other political objectives.
Still, you may ask: Why is LL so convinced that gay marriage would win big?
There's polls, you see: A July poll of registered Democrats in three wards conducted by leading business types showed 77 percent support for gay marriage. Then there's another, lesser known poll that's been whispered about for months among local same-sex-marriage advocates---a poll that the Human Rights Campaign, national advocacy group, had conducted in the spring showing upwards of 65 percent support citywide, LL is told by multiple sources. That's landslide territory.
