Candidates Declare for Mayor, Council Race: The List So Far 

This article was updated Oct. 31.

Leaves are falling, the weather cooler and Election Day 2021 two weeks away. What does that mean? Candidates are already positioning themselves for the 2022 elections. Case in point: D.C. elected offices — mayor and D.C. Council. To be clear, this is an off-year for most places in the country, except for neighboring Virginia and a few other spots.

Right now, Mayor Muriel Bowser seems secure in her job but has yet to announce for reelection. In Georgetown, there is active buzz that former Council member Jack Evans appears to be planning to run again, but that would in 2024, not next year. D.C Council seats up for election in 2022 are chairman, one at-large member and ward members, 1, 3, 5 snd 6.

Below is a quick look, as of today, at those who have thrown their hats into the ring to challenge the incumbent local leadership. More to come on this score, no doubt. We’re just getting starting.

Mayor

Robert C. White. Jr.: White is a D.C. native, Democrat and an at-large Council member since 2016. He is actively supported by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who was expected by some to run for mayor himself but will not seek elected office in 2022. After graduating Archbishop Carroll High School, he attended St. Mary’s College of Maryland where he earned degrees in Philosophy and Political Science. In addition, he completed studies at Oxford University in England and in the Gambia, West Africa before earning his law degree from American University. White is currently chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors and served as the first Director of Community Outreach for the DC Office of the Attorney General in 2014.

Trayon White, Sr.: White is a native Washingtonian, Democrat, and Ward 8 Council member since 2017. Popular with his local base, White said he would not promote vaccines and a few years said that a certain Jewish family somehow controlled the weather. He graduated from Frank W. Ballou Senior High School before enrolling and graduating from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. White has played a pivotal role in community development through his participation and mentorship in at the Boys & Girls Club, and his involvement with the nonprofit, East of the River Clergy, Police and Community Partnership. In 2011, he was elected to the State Board of Education for Ward 8.

District Council

Ward 5  — Vincent Orange formerly represented Ward 5 on the Council from 1999 to 2007 and was an at-large member from 2011 to 2016. He also served as president of the DC Chamber of Commerce. While still a council member, he took on the job of Chamber president and was persuaded to resign his Council seat after protests of conflict of interest. Orange is from Oakland, California, earned a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of the Pacific, received his J.D. from Howard University School of Law, and also earned a Master of Laws Taxation at Georgetown University Law Center. The Ward 5 seat is being vacated by Kenyan McDuffie.

Ward 5  — Ward 5 Democrats chair Gordon-Andrew Fletcher is an advisory neighborhood commissioner. He hails from Jamaica and has lived in D.C. for almost 20 years.

Ward 5  — Among her many D.C. government jobs, Faith Gibson Hubbard was most recently director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs. She earned a Ph.D from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree from Old Dominion.

Ward 5  — Zachary Parker, president of the D.C. State Board of Education, is a former Teach for America math teacher. Parker is from Chicago and a graduate of Northwestern University. He also a master’s degree from Columbia University.

At-Large Seat — Ambrose Lane, Jr.: Lane is challenging Anita Bonds for her at-large seat. He is the founder and chair of the Health Alliance Network in DC and co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID, being an advocate in addressing racial disparities in health outcomes. His late father, Rev. Ambrose Lane, Sr., was a D.C.-based anti-poverty activist, radio talk show personality and political and religious commentator.

At-Large Seat — Nathan Bennett-Fleming: Bennett-Fleming is also contesting for Bonds’s at-large seat. A native Washingtonian, he received his B.A. from Morehouse College, J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and was awarded a Harvard Public Service Fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

tagsAmbrose Lane JrAnita Bondsjack evansKenyan McDuffieMayor Muriel BowserNathan Bennett-FlemingRobert WhiteTrayon White Sr.Vincent Orange