Mayor Vince Gray is currently downstairs at WPFW playing guest DJ while the station has a pledge drive.

When asked what songs he'll be playing, Gray says: "Chuck, man, Chuck."

You can listen here or on 89.3 FM.

Photo by Alan Suderman

So long, Chuck [Post]

Damn, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame "Fully Loaded" Brown is already talking about Marion Barry's funeral [Post]

When Barry rapped with Chuck Brown [AD] Read more Morning Clicks

There are few ideas more sacred in District government than the notion that as much public spending as possible should wind up in the pockets of District contractors.

“I’d rather pay a little bit more for service from a D.C.-based company that’s hiring D.C. residents,” was Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry’s rather tidy summation of longstanding city policy last fall. Barry’s comments came during a several-hours-long D.C. Council handwringing session over the fact that a minor grass-cutting contract had been awarded to a company from—gasp!—Baltimore.

To make sure locals have an edge in winning city contracts, the District prioritizes businesses that can prove their main offices are here, their top bosses work here, and their essential business functions are done here. Businesses that meet those criteria and slog through the required paperwork become Certified Business Enterprises, earning them preference points added to their scores when they bid on city contracts. Those points often make the difference in determining who wins city contracts and who doesn’t.

With about $3 billion paid to contractors every year, you’d expect there to be hell to pay for any company caught gaming the system. But you’d be wrong, at least in the curious case of one major developer who got off virtually scot-free after being found in serious violation of the city’s rules. Critics have long maintained that the CBE program is rigged in favor of the powerful and the connected. This case probably won’t help dispel that notion. Read more All in the Game?

So how did Ward 5 Councilmember-elect Kenyan McDuffie pull off such a convincing victory last night? If you were within earshot of union leaders (or on their email list) you might have heard (or read) that the strong support of organized labor made the difference.

"SEIU volunteers worked to support Kenyan McDuffie in the weeks leading up to the election, persuading voters and getting out the vote through advertising and direct mail, and having thousands of conversations with Ward 5 voters by phone and through a door-to-door canvassing operation," the Service Employees International Union bragged in a statement last night, right after the final votes were tallied.

McDuffie also had the support of the Washington Teachers' Union, whose president, Nathan Saunders, tells LL today that McDuffie's "friends in labor" are the reason why his victory was so lopsided.

"We want the candidates we support to know and feel it, and we want the candidates we don't support to know and feel it," Saunders says of his union's campaign efforts, which include putting up "high quality" signs, get-out-the vote efforts and sending out print mailers.

Victory, of course, has 1,000 fathers, and it's difficult to qualify and quantify  just how much labor helped in McDuffie's win last night. Maybe McDuffie won so easily because his opponents ran poor campaigns, or because he's that good a candidate, or because Ward 6 Councilmartyr Saint Tommy Wells' endorsement carries such great weight in Ward 5 elections. (No, seriously, maybe that's why!) Read more Union Yes! Jeff Thompson No?

Mayor Vince Gray was very happy this morning about Kenyan McDuffie’s win in Ward 5.

Asked about last night's election at a press conference today, Gray called McDuffie "an outstanding choice." *

“First of all,” Gray said, “it was a resounding turnout in Ward 5. Lots of people voted yesterday and an overwhelming number of people voted for Kenyan McDuffie. He, of course, worked with Paul Quander, who is our deputy mayor for public safety and justice. [McDuffie] resigned in order to be able to run for this office, and we knew he was going to be a very credible candidate based on his work."

What else does Gray like about the newest member of the D.C. Council? He's a "native Washingtonian" and "he has a family" including "two young children."

Of course, the pleasant feelings may not last through the first time McDuffie votes against a Gray administration priority. But for now, consider the Wilson Building in a good mood.

* Correction: Due to a reporting error, this post originally quoted Gray calling McDuffie "an astounding choice."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Kenyan McDuffie wins easy in Ward 5 race "It’s a mandate — people want ethical, honest leadership." [Post]

Budget passes. Watch out for more speed cameras  [Times, Examiner]

Post says Council "heavily revised" Vince Gray's budget, but mayor says budget "closely tracks my priorities." Can they both be right? [Post] Read more Morning Clicks

And then there were 13, again. Kenyan McDuffie has won today's Ward 5 special election to replace disgraced former Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.

The unofficial results have McDuffie, an attorney and former policy advisor in Mayor Vince Gray's administration, winning in a landslide of 40 percent of the votes in a field of 11 candidates.

McDuffie won 4,085 votes. His next closest competitor, Delano Hunter, received 1,850 votes, or 20 percent of the vote. Frank Wilds rounds out the top three with 1,360 votes, or 15 percent of the vote.

More tomorrow.

Photo courtesy of McDuffie campaign

Ward 5 voters have a few hours left to get to the polls to pick a replacement for disgraced former Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., off to 38 months in federal prison soon for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from D.C. taxpayers. (Polls close at 8 p.m.)

Washington City Paper spoke to some voters in today's special election at Dunbar High School, home of the city's 19th precinct, about their choices. Both Kenyan McDuffie and Delano Hunter had volunteers at tables outside; there were also signs for candidates sticking up from every corner of the front lawn. A person working for Drew Hubbard's campaign twirled his sign and held it up as cars zoomed past him. An admittedly unscientific survey of some voters (and one candidate) follows:

• Name: Brenda Stewart

Voted for: McDuffie

Why: “My gut tells me he’s sincere and that he’s genuinely concerned about the community. Some of these other ones they got some really bad press. If you don’t make good choices in your personal life whether it’s your finances or otherwise I don’t see how in the world you’re going to make good choices for other people.”

Read more Ward 5 Votes to Replace Harry Thomas Jr.

A federal judge has ordered Mayor Vince Gray to give a deposition in a lawsuit over the lottery contract, dismissing Gray's objections that it would be an "undue burden" for him to take part.

Judge Richard Roberts upheld a previous court ruling ordering Gray to be deposed in Eric Payne's wrongful termination case. A former city official, Payne says he was unfairly fired for protesting the behind-the-scenes politicking over the contract. Roberts also ruled that Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham needs to talk, but Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans doesn't. Roberts also limited the scope of the deposition to conversations Gray and Graham may have had specifically about Payne and his city employment and not about their more general "review of the lottery contract."

Payne, who used to work for Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi, says Gray and Graham put pressure on Gandhi to have him fired. You'll remember that Payne secretly recorded a conversation with one of his bosses saying:

"Jim Graham is on a personal vendetta here and, you know, he thinks the way to get what he wants is to find a way to discredit the people that were involved in the process. And he doesn't care who that involves. Umm, because for Gray and Graham, this is all personal. This is about their friends, or who is not their friends for Graham."

Both Gray and Graham say Payne's claims are untrue.

Interestingly enough, Roberts is probably pretty familiar with city affairs. He was one of the prosecutors in the government's drug case against former Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry.

The ruling: Read more Mayor Gray Ordered to Talk on Lotto Case

It's voting day in Ward 5 [WAMU]

Kwame's budget: money for Housing Production Trust Fund, no money NoMa parks; money from extended bar hours 19 days of the year. (No vote, yet, to repay furlough days) [Post,Times, Examiner]

Chief Lanier warns out of town cops not to be rowdy [NBC4] Read more Morning Clicks