Departure of Bonds as longtime head of DC Dems sets off three-way contest

With Anita Bonds stepping aside as chair of the DC Democratic State Committee, a three-way race has ensued for leadership of the struggling local party.

Committee members will cast votes Thursday evening to decide the winner among the three candidates: James Bubar, Stanley Mayes and Charles Wilson.

Bonds, an at-large DC Council member since 2012, told Democratic activists last week that she would not seek re-election as chair of the DC Democratic State Committee, which critics say has fallen into stagnation and disrepair under her 12-year tenure.

The three candidates, all longtime party activists, have been jockeying for support and pitching their platforms privately to members of the committee. All three prospective chairs have a long history with the committee. In the June primary, Bubar and Wilson won at-large seats, and Mayes won as a Ward 1 representative.

All of the candidates are proposing a range of reforms, some of them focused on operational matters that seem basic to a functioning modern-day political party — such as maintaining a regularly updated website and social media presence, electing more Democrats beyond DC, and ensuring better communication with members.

 

James Bubar

Bubar, an attorney and a 16-year member of the committee, is viewed as the establishment’s choice. He ran in June on the “Democrats Moving Forward #Resist” slate, whose candidates touted their experience. Bubar said Bonds has endorsed him for chair, although Bonds has not made any statements publicly.

In an email to members of the Democratic State Committee, Bubar wrote that he wants to “make our State Committee a positive model for other state committees to follow.”

“I believe in diversity and democratic values, modernizing our party with social media, and making DC Statehood a reality,” he wrote.

 

Stanley Mayes

Mayes, a longtime Ward 1 activist, has served on the DC Democratic State Committee for over 20 years.

Mayes proposes a voter registration drive to sign up more Democrats, noting that the number of voters who are registered as independents or with no party affiliation has been growing in DC. He also believes the Democratic State Committee should be active in taking public positions on local policy debates.

“If people want to see an organization start moving in a direction that makes us more important in what happens in our city, I’m here,” Mayes said.

Mayes said his experience with the status quo motivated him to run. He said he helped completely revise the committee’s constitution over a six-month period, only for a scheduled vote on the changes in May to be canceled two days beforehand. “It just got trashed,” he said.

He does not attack Bonds, however. “Anybody who makes it about Anita misses the point, in my perspective,” he said.

 

Charles Wilson

A Ward 8 activist who has served on the DC Democratic State Committee for seven years, Wilson ran under the “DumpTrump-Dems4Action” slate in the June.

Wilson, a former chief of staff for Bonds at her council office, said he received encouragement from her to run in recent months. He has not criticized her personally, and Democrats say Wilson has been making overtures to many Bonds supporters.

“I don’t want to talk negatively about Anita,” he said.

Wilson is the only candidate for chair who has sent physical mailers to the committee members. He said he wants to boost the local party’s fundraising operation, register more Democratic voters and hold regular meetings.

“There’s a ton of talent within the party itself that, in my opinion, is underutilized.”

Wilson also said he wants the committee to testify before the DC Council and “regularly take positions on issues.”

 

A party at a crossroads

At a time when Democrats nationwide are energized to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda, many city Democrats have expressed exasperation at the state of the local party apparatus. Candidates are also pushing for more action on DC statehood.

Current and former members lament plummeting voter turnout and lay blame on the committee’s leadership.

“Can you imagine that 7 percent of eligible voters in Ward 8 turned out for a primary?” said MaryEva Candon, a former member of the committee who served as its first executive director after DC obtained home rule in 1973.  “I should think the Democratic State Committee should resign.”

“They’re only concerned about their own individual elections,” said Candon, a critic of Bonds who ran unsuccessfully in June for an at-large seat on the committee. “There’s no gravitas, you know, no adherence to the … principles we were founded on.”

A top aide to Bonds did not respond to requests for an interview.

In addition to chair, Democrats will vote Thursday on a vice chair, treasurer, recording secretary and corresponding secretary.

Linda Gray — a Ward 4 representative on the committee who ran in June on the “Democrats Moving Forward” slate — is challenging Bonds for vice chair. The top two positions of the DC committee come with spots on the executive committee of the national Democratic Party.

Convening Thursday’s meeting are Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans and Silvia Martinez, who were elected in the June primary to serve as national committeeman and national committeewoman — the top two internal Democratic Party slots on the ballot.

A vocal critic of Bonds, John Capozzi, predicts a combustible atmosphere at the election meeting. Democratic leaders have drawn criticism in the past from leaders of the city’s other political parties for holding their political meetings in the John A. Wilson Building — the District’s seat of government — and Capozzi added another critique. He said he believes the party leadership chose the “smallest room they could find in the building,” hearing room 120.

Capozzi, a former member of the committee, said he hasn’t been able to obtain a list of exactly who is eligible to vote Thursday despite asking for one. “Nobody knows who’s going to win, because nobody knows who’s voting,” he said.

While Capozzi has been campaigning for Wilson, he said any of the three candidates would be an improvement.

“The Democratic Party is like a person, but right now it doesn’t have a pulse,” he says. “You don’t feel anything because it’s dead.”