Vincent Gray is a former District mayor who is seeking re-election to Ward 7 D.C. Council seat. (AFRO File Photo)
Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray formally announced his bid for re-election as the Ward 7 D.C. Council member on March 5 at the House of Praise Church in Northeast in front of 200 people. Gray said he was ready to go back to work for Ward 7 residents. “The hope and promise of Ward 7 cannot slip away,” Gray said. “Every day I see our accomplishments slowing or stalled. The people we’ve helped here in Ward 7 and across the District deserve better.”
Gray was elected to the D.C. Council in 2004 by defeating D.C. Council member Kevin Chavous in the Democratic Party primary and winning handily in the general election. Gray’s leadership skills won the confidence of then D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp (D), who recognized his ability to build consensus on issues with his colleagues.
In 2006, he was recruited by political activists and some business leaders to replace Cropp as council chair as she sought the Democratic nomination for mayor that year. Gray won the Democratic primary against Ward 3 D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson (D) and the general election to become the council’s presiding officer.
Gray was sworn in as council chair in January 2007 and supported present Ward 7 Council member Yvette Alexander as his successor in the May 1 special election that year. In 2010, with Alexander’s support, Gray defeated incumbent D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in the September 14 Democratic mayoral primary and won the general election with no serious opposition.
In 2012, Gray backed Alexander for re-election and Alexander supported Gray in the April 1, 2014 mayoral Democratic primary against Ward 4 D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser. After Bowser won the primary, Alexander immediately declared her support for her.
Many District residents speculate that the years-long investigation of the 2010 mayoral campaign for illegal activities, started in 2011 and conducted by Ron Machen, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, thwarted Gray’s re-election attempt.
“Vince was not involved with that,” Carrie Thornhill, his campaign chairman, said. “He was never charged with anything. What was done to Vince was wrong.”
U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips said last December that there was no strong evidence that Gray did anything wrong during the investigation and cleared him. Gray said that he has moved on beyond that episode in his life.
During his address, Gray talked about the needs for District statehood, the city’s growing disparities in health and housing, increasing support for pre-natal care programs and developing the Penn Branch neighborhood and jump starting the revitalization effort on the Strand Theater project, a rundown and neglected movie house in Deanwood. He said that his administration did its part to make sure that Walmart would set up in the Skyland Town Center — which recently pulled out under the Bowser administration — and East Capitol Gateway projects; both located in Ward 7 and argued that technology companies can function in the ward like they have in other parts of the District.
“We have tremendous tech opportunities in this city,” he said. “Why can’t we bring startups to Ward 7?”
In addition to Alexander, Gray faces Ward 7 Democratic Club Chairman Ed Potillo and activists John Campbell, Delmar Chesley and Grant Thompson in the June 14 Democratic primary. Candidates need to get at least 250 verifiable signatures to get on the primary ballot. Petitions are due to the District’s board of elections office by the end of business on March 16.
Ward 7 resident Michelle Jones is a firm supporter of Gray. “I believe in his leadership,” Jones, who lives in the Hillside section of the ward, said. “We need some change in leadership in Ward 7. When he was chairman of the council, there was growth in Ward 7.”
Barbara Lang, the former president and CEO of the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, attended the rally even though she doesn’t live in Ward 7. “We need Vince Gray back in the government,” Lang, who owns a consulting firm, said. “He did a terrific job as mayor and while we didn’t always agree, he understood that was democracy and wanted what was best for the city.”