A few thoughts on DC's primaries… and WaPo’s endorsements

Robert White’s campaign recently released a shocking poll that has him within striking distance of Mayor Muriel Bowser – 37% to 41%, with a 4% margin of error.

It seems Bowser takes the poll seriously, as her campaign is going negative against White at the eleventh hour. And the Washington Post is also stepping up its game, recently issuing a second endorsing editorial of the mayor.

The race’s tightness is surprising. I thought White, a two-term DC councilmember, might have a shot at knocking Bowser out in a one-on-one matchup. But once Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White entered the race, I figured Bowser could rest easy knowing the votes against her would be diluted – between two challengers who are both young Black progressives, and share the same last name, while lacking Bowser’s name recognition.

This setup looked like a dream come true for Bowser. And yet, if Robert White’s poll is accurate, tomorrow he’s got a fighting shot to thwart Bowser’s attempt at a third term.

Of course, Robert would be in better shape if Trayon hadn’t entered the race in the first place – a move which surprised me, and not just because he did so immediately on the heels of Robert’s entry. I’m a fan of Trayon, but this lack of coordination among progressives is heartbreaking, as it makes it so much harder to get lefties into higher office.

That’s why I find what’s happening in Ward 3 so encouraging. When Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh announced she wouldn’t seek reelection, a deep field of candidates quickly emerged, including a bunch of progressives. Had the field stayed like this, Eric Goulet – backed by the Post, the business community and a boatload of charter school money – may have easily won the seat.

But At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman wasn’t content to sit on the sidelines and watch the progressive vote become hopelessly splintered. She commissioned a poll of Ward 3 voters, and it showed only one progressive, Matthew Frumin, had a shot at stopping Goulet. Silverman then quietly shared the poll’s results with progressive candidates in the race. And then something shocking happened: three of the candidates promptly ended their campaigns and endorsed Frumin.

Think about that for a second. These candidates are running for a rare open seat, in a wide-open and splintered field. This may well be the closest they come to being on the DC Council (a far more powerful body than its name implies – for non-DC folks, imagine a city council and state legislature all rolled into one legislative body of just 13 members). Yet Ward 3 candidates Tricia Duncan, Ben Bergmann and Henry Cohen took one for the team in order to give Frumin a fighting shot. “I just knew that I couldn’t live with myself if we had managed a decent showing, but Matt still lost by two or three points to Eric,” Duncan told City Paper. “I felt like I needed to stand up and say: Ward 3 is not for sale.”

The Post is none too happy with these developments. The paper decried “the machinations in Ward 3” and labled Silverman “far left wing,” which is ridiculous. But I understand why the Post is angry.

Historically the paper’s endorsement has played a crucial role in crowded DC races, particularly in wealthy wards filled with Post readers, like Ward 3. With many candidates fracturing the vote this year, the Post should be able to play God once again. But then Silverman started organizing progressive candidates, thereby messing around in what the Post views as its own private sandbox. You can be sure the paper won’t forget her transgression.

Silverman also weighed in on the Ward 1 race, where Councilmember Brianne Nadeau’s chief challenger is a 30-year-old former police officer by the name of Salah Czapary. What Czapary lacks in political experience he makes up for in Republican support. As City Paper noted:

“Czapary’s first campaign chair, William Pack, had deep ties to the pro-Trump, insurrection-curious Claremont Institute… His campaign treasurer, too, has a past as a registered Republican, and GOP operatives have a habit of saying nice things about his campaign.”

Having only become a Democrat in the lead up to his campaign, Czapary’s first-ever vote in a Democratic primary will be for himself. Despite this, the Post called Czapary “the clear choice” and endorsed him.

At first glance it may seem like the Post lost its marbles with this one, but it’s actually consistent with the paper’s past endorsements. For example in a razor-close Ward 2 race in 2020, the Post backed 28-year-old Brooke Pinto, who actually did one better than Czapary. Before voting for herself, Pinto had never voted in any DC election. (And like Czapary, Pinto has her own questionable background – in her case, through her wealthy family’s possible ties to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.)

However tomorrow goes, the burgeoning coordination among DC progressives is a hopeful sign.

* Correction: an earlier version of this post said Marion Barry didn’t serve three consecutive terms as DC mayor. He did.