Marion C. Barry failed to capture much of late father Marion Barry‘s electoral magic in the Ward 8 special election last night, coming in a dismal sixth place with just 7.2 percent of the vote. Maybe worse, by staying in the race, he helped deny fellow Barry protégé Trayon White a victory over Muriel Bowser favorite LaRuby May. But Barry hasn’t given up running for the Ward 8 seat, telling LL that he plans to run when the seat is open again in 2016.
The special election race is probably headed to a recount, but Barry wants to start his campaign up again. Outside his election party on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Barry said he didn’t regret his campaign’s role in White’s tightened race with May, but otherwise declined to comment. In a statement, though, Barry says he’ll run again for the seat.
“Like my father, Marion Barry, I will continue to work on behalf of the least, the lost and the last,” Barry says in the statement. “My campaign for my father’s seat in Ward 8 begins tomorrow.”
The Democratic primary is 13 months from now, but Barry will have something to occupy him in the meantime: a potential prison term. Next month, unless he accepts a plea deal, Barry will go to trial over allegedly threatening a bank teller and destroying a security camera.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery