City hall veterans and community leaders are among those running in this summer’s Ward 8 special election, with all contenders looking to spoil former D.C. Council member Trayon White’s political comeback after his federal bribery case forced him out of office three months ago.
The D.C. Council voted to expel Mr. White in February after he was charged with taking cash to influence government contracts, triggering the special election. Mr. White pleaded not guilty to the charges and is still allowed to run in the race since he is not a convicted felon.
Mr. White’s late entry into the race didn’t surprise the other candidates, who told The Washington Times they expected the incumbent to try and reclaim his seat.
The hopefuls said they’ve spent more time campaigning about their vision for the ward, which mostly lies east of the Anacostia River in Southeast, than they have criticizing Mr. White. The former councilman didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.
But the candidates each said voters are fed up with Mr. White and his link to the bribery scandal.
“What I’m hearing, when I’m knocking on doors and talking with residents, is they’re frustrated,” said Mike Austin, a Democrat. “Even his supporters, they’re frustrated, and they’re not going to turn a blind eye to corruption.”
There isn’t much daylight between the candidates on which issues are most important to Ward 8 voters — attracting responsible development, better access to fresh food and, at the top of the list, ensuring safer streets in a part of town that has long struggled with crime.
Salim Adofo, a Democrat who chairs an advisory neighborhood commission in Congress Heights, said two shootings over the Easter weekend reaffirmed the election’s central theme of improving public safety.
He said seniors have shared how the violence makes them afraid to leave their homes, even for quick runs to the store.
Khadijah Clark, a Democrat who is a licensed therapist, said she sees the “troublemakers” along Alabama Avenue Southeast getting bolder ahead of the higher-crime summer months.
She said she supports getting the National Guard out to the ward if that’s what it takes.
But Sheila Bunn, a Democrat who worked in Congress for Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton and was chief of staff for Vincent Gray when he was mayor and later the Ward 7 council member, said she wants violence interrupters and other programs to help quell any disputes before they turn deadly.
The city’s anti-violence initiatives have come under scrutiny ever since Mr. White, a champion of alternatives to traditional policing, was charged with trying to steer the District’s multimillion-dollar peacekeeping contracts to certain organizations.
Prosecutors accused him of agreeing to accept over $150,000 in exchange for helping award the grants to coconspirators. Mr. White pleaded not guilty to the charges and goes to trial in January.
Ms. Bunn contended that the anti-violence efforts are effective and just need better quality control.
“We want to make sure that the oversight is there, that people are trained properly and that the actual workers are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing, because having those violence interrupters in communities oftentimes does prevent violence from happening,” she said.
Mr. Austin, who helped write policy for former Ward 8 Council member LaRuby May, said driving down crime will help get key amenities into the ward.
The ward has a dearth of pharmacies and grocery stores available to residents, he said. A chunk of those resources are located in the ritzy Navy Yard neighborhood, which was added to the ward during the citywide redistricting process a few years ago.
He called it “outrageous” that residents need to cross the Anacostia River to pick up food or medicine.
Ms. Clark, the therapist who also said she would confront Congress over its $1 billion cut to D.C.’s budget, said a big part of her vision for the ward is restoring the community feel that defined Southeast in the 1970s.
She said young people have gotten more unruly since then, in part because they’re not being held accountable by neighbors.
“The teacher could discipline you. The neighborhood could discipline you. And then when you got home, you got it,” Ms. Clark said. “We just need to stop being afraid of these kids.”
Doc Adams and Kenneth Diggs, the two Republicans in the race, did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Eric Cleckley, the final Democrat in the election that’s expected to be won by one of his fellow party members. The city’s political scene is almost entirely run by Democrats.
None of the candidates said they feel like an underdog to Mr. White, even after he cruised to reelection last fall in spite of his federal bribery case.
Mr. Adofo said he’s particularly optimistic since he ran a competitive primary against Mr. White last summer.
“We continue to go out there and build more relationships,” Mr. Adofo said. “People are definitely looking for new leadership.”
The special election will be held on July 15.
