Four months after the first challenger entered the Ward 2 DC Council race with hopes of unseating embattled incumbent Jack Evans, the contest now features five hopefuls jockeying for votes in the Democratic primary come next June.
In the initial competition for fundraising, Jordan Grossman reported $37,600 in contributions as of the July 31 filing deadline, according to reports filed with the Office of Campaign Finance (OCF). Kishan Putta — the most recent entrant — has raised about $12,900; Patrick Kennedy — the first to announce his candidacy — has raised about $12,300; and John Fanning has raised about $6,200. Daniel Hernandez received an extension and has not filed his contribution report yet.
All five are participating in the District’s new Fair Elections Program, a voluntary system for publicly funded political campaigns. For ward council seats, candidates can get a 5-1 match for individual contributions of up to $50 from DC residents; to qualify, they must agree not to accept contributions from businesses or traditional political action committees, and must have raised a total of $5,000 or more in donations from at least 150 small-dollar contributors. (About a quarter of Grossman’s fundraising total came from family members, according to a Washington City Paper article that outlines OCF’s inconsistent guidance on whether that’s permissible under the Fair Elections Program rules.)
Evans hasn’t said whether he intends to run again for the seat he has held since 1991.
Evans, who resigned from the Metro board in June amid ethics concerns, is under federal and DC Council investigations for alleged influence-peddling. The council stripped him of his position as chair of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, and he is facing calls from several groups and one council colleague to step down from the council entirely. A committee is also circulating recall petitions in an effort to force a vote on whether to remove Evans from office, with organizer Adam Eidinger recently saying that volunteers have collected about 2,000 of the 5,200 signatures that would have to be submitted by Nov. 18.
On the eve of the council’s July vote to pursue an investigation, Evans — who has apologized for some “lapses” but says he expects the investigations to show his actions were “far from that which has been reported or suggested” — released a statement expressing respect for the process. “I will constantly work to reaffirm with my own constituents that I understand the high calling of being an elected official and that I will devote my time on the Council to the redemptive challenge of their good will,” he said in the July 8 statement. Evans didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article.
Even though the June 2 primary is some 10 months away, candidates are staking out their ground.
Kishan Putta, who entered the race in late June, said rebuilding trust is his first priority. He said Ward 2 residents have not received the attention from Evans they need and have lost confidence in local politics entirely. “They deserve better and I want to restore their trust,” Putta said.
The breadth of his experience, Putta says, sets him apart in the race. He was an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Dupont Circle before moving to Burleith, where he defeated a longtime incumbent last November to win election to ANC 2E. He is also the chair of the DC Democratic State Committee’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus, a member of the Mayor’s Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs, and a member of DC Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee’s Parent Advisory Board.
Putta — a community outreach coordinator for East Rock Creek Village and previously a policy consultant for DC Health Link — said he understands the varying needs of Ward 2’s residents, having been an elected official in two neighborhoods and having lived in the District before he got married and became a parent. As the father of a young son, his family life informed his decision to run, he noted. “I want to make [Ward 2] a better neighborhood for him to live in,” he said.
For Putta, that means proposals like dedicated bus lanes on 16th Street, funding for more green spaces around the ward and a cap on child care costs for DC residents. Putta pointed to past successes he was involved in — such as winning funding for a renovated recreation center in Dupont Circle and pushing for new investments in technology by DC Public Schools as a member of the parent cabinet — as evidence that he can deliver results.
By contrast, Daniel Hernandez is positioning himself as an outsider candidate for the seat. “I’m not the usual politician,” he said. “I think people are tired of politics as usual.” A DC resident since 2017, Hernandez is a technology professional at Microsoft and a former Marine. The ethical scandals facing Evans motivated him to enter the contest for the Ward 2 seat.
“I reached my frustration point with how things were, and I decided to evaluate how I could get involved,” he said. He has been a member of the canvassing organization DC for Democracy and the DC Latino Caucus.
Hernandez is focusing the policy side of his campaign on improving education and transportation in the District. He took aim at Evans’ “lack of leadership” in easing the overcrowding at many Ward 2 public schools. He also blamed Evans for slow progress on improving the ward’s bike lanes. According to the Census Reporter, 70 percent of the ward’s residents bike, walk, or take public transit to work. Hernandez would like to see that percentage rise until the entire ward is able to commute to work without driving alone in a personal vehicle.
In his campaign, Hernandez has emphasized support for Ward 2’s senior citizens. On his website, he pledges to improve transportation options specifically for seniors as well as to support programs to improve social outreach and alleviate food insecurity.
In terms of expertise in transportation policy, though, Hernandez faces strong competition from Foggy Bottom ANC member Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy helped broker an agreement among the District Department of Transportation, the Dupont Circle ANC and the Foggy Bottom/West End ANC regarding a new bike lane on 20th Street NW.
“It’s going to be a freshman council member [after the election], and I think it’s incredibly important that [the] council member have a demonstrated track record of being able to work from day one with different constituencies across the city, and work with their colleagues and deliver results,” he said, emphasizing his own negotiating skills.
Kennedy has an extensive track record in local government. He is currently in his fourth term serving on ANC 2A, having been first elected while a junior at George Washington University in 2012. He chaired the commission from 2014 to 2018 before he stepped down due to term limits for the chair position. He works as a consultant for the management consulting firm CRP Inc.
A self-described “mediating influence” in Foggy Bottom, Kennedy is the candidate of choice for many ANC commissioners. In late June he announced that 17 of the ward’s 38 commissioners had endorsed his campaign and added that the support of his fellow commissioners was what drove him to run.
Aside from Evans, though, no candidate can match Logan Circle ANC chair John Fanning’s depth of experience in DC government. A 34-year DC resident, Fanning is in his 12th year as a commissioner on ANC 2F and his third as chair of the commission. Fanning, who recently left a position at the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, has also been the Ward 2 liaison to the mayor’s office under five different mayoral administrations.
“What separates me apart is my knowledge of the DC government, and the relationships I have in the DC government,” Fanning said. He added that he has built up a “wealth of institutional knowledge” over multiple decades of government service.
“Our ward needs a renewed focus,” he said, citing several areas for improvement including housing affordability, homelessness and retail vacancies. He also argued for more funding for the Mayor’s Office for LGBTQ Affairs in light of a recent string of violent crimes against gay and transgender residents.
Fanning was one of three Democratic challengers to run against Evans in 2000, finishing in second place in the primary with 17.9 percent to Evans’ 66.3 percent.
Jordan Grossman does not have the record of service in DC to match Fanning, but he brings extensive national political experience to the race. A fifth-generation Washingtonian, he has served as acting legislative director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Iowa in 2008; and a law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Most recently he worked at the DC Department of Health Care Finance, helping residents access Medicaid and housing services.
Access to city services is the cornerstone of his campaign. “As Ward 2’s council member, my focus will be on listening to the needs of my neighbors, making it possible for residents to stay and thrive in our dynamic community rather than feeling like they’re stretching to make ends meet,” Grossman said.
Whether through passing legislation to cap child care costs or looking for ways to ease the crush of student loan debt, Grossman said his campaign is built upon making room for all Ward 2 residents. “We can and must do better for everyone who lives here, from fifth-generation District residents like me to our immigrant communities and recent college graduates moving to the District for a great job,” Grossman said.
The last time the Ward 2 seat changed hands was 1991, when Evans narrowly won a crowded 15-candidate special election to replace John Wilson. With the 2020 primary still nearly a year away, Evans’ scandals have already spawned a larger field than any Ward 2 election since 1991. In the last two election cycles, Evans ran unopposed.
This is an excellent summary of whats happening in Ward 2 politically except it is worth noting all these candidates have also pledged to run in a recall special election if that is needed. The Committee to Hold Jack Evans Accountable has until November 17 to submit 5,200 signatures to trigger a recall election. If the voter approve the recall he loses his job immediately.