A vocal anti-police brutality activist is the second declared candidate for next year’s race for the Ward 7 seat on the DC Council, while another neighborhood leader is actively exploring a run for the position currently held by former Mayor Vincent Gray.
They won’t be going after an open seat: Two and a half years after returning to the DC Council, Gray said for the first time in an interview on Wednesday that he will run for re-election.
“I’m absolutely running again for re-election and looking forward to continuing to serve the people of Ward 7,” Gray told The DC Line, adding he hasn’t decided yet when to officially file papers.
Anthony Lorenzo Green, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for the Deanwood neighborhood in Northeast DC, entered the race Friday, filing Tuesday with the Office of Campaign Finance. He said he was motivated to run while lobbying against police brutality and criticizing the Metropolitan Police Department’s conduct and policies, claiming Gray “has been completely out of touch” on the issue.
“Vince Gray has done his duty, he has served his time, but there comes a moment where we have to recognize and realize we need a change in the way the city is progressing,” Green told The DC Line. Green said he will participate in the city’s public financing Fair Elections Program, which quintuples donations up to $50 with public funds for candidates who qualify.
With a former advisory neighborhood commissioner already having declared his candidacy, the race is shaping up to be highly charged. A spike in gun violence plaguing the ward means that public safety will figure in the race, the candidates say, as will the need for more economic development to bring basic services like more grocery stores to the ward’s 70,000 residents.
Ward observers expect the field to grow for the Democratic primary, which will take place on June 2.
One potential Gray challenger is Veda Rasheed, who officially formed an exploratory committee late last month. Rasheed represents the Benning Ridge neighborhood in Southeast as a member of ANC 7E and recently worked as a community outreach staffer for the DC Office of the Attorney General.
“It’s time for a new style of leadership, one with different training, one with different experience, more energy,” said Rasheed, an attorney and the mother of two boys. She cited the effects of violence in Ward 7, where there have been 28 homicides this year, as a top reason she is considering a run.
“My own kids have experienced this trauma,” Rasheed said. Having held a meet-and-greet, organized a volunteer training session and attended various community events, she expects to announce “very soon” whether she will enter the race.
Gray’s return to the council in 2017 originally fueled speculation he might run for mayor again, but he opted against a rematch with Mayor Muriel Bowser last year. He has focused much of his legislative energy on health care and an early childhood education initiative, Birth-To-Three.
“I think it’s been constructive and productive,” Gray said of his relationship with the mayor. “People can paint it however they want to, but we know we’ve been working together to improve outcomes for people who reside in Ward 7.”
As chair of the Committee on Health, Gray has worked to finalize a deal to replace the run-down United Medical Center with a new hospital in Ward 8 at the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus. He has sought a December 2022 closing date for the center, while working to ease the path for George Washington University Hospital to manage the replacement hospital.
James Jennings, who served as an ANC member in the early 1990s, has also filed to run for Gray’s seat. A campaign letter notes that he is a retired police sergeant and military veteran.
“[I’d] like to be the new voice for all Ward 7 to have equal economic development growth and real employment opportunities,” he wrote in a message to The DC Line. He said the ward and the city face many challenges, including gentrification, high property taxes, crime and resistance to DC statehood.
Gray was first elected to represent Ward 7 on the DC Council in 2004; two years later, he won citywide to become council chairman. Gray lost re-election as mayor in 2014 after one term in office, much of it clouded by a federal investigation into his 2010 mayoral campaign that resulted in guilty pleas from some associates but no charges against Gray himself.
As a council member, Gray hasn’t done enough to meet his ward’s needs, according to his challengers. Green says that’s true on policing matters. A critic of more policing, Green has previously tussled with MPD Chief Peter Newsham, and in one tweet in May predicted that “one of your beloved DC Police officers will get hurt” due to community tensions.
“Policing does not equal safety, especially in black and brown communities, in Ward 7,” said Green, who worked for the Department of Employment Services for four years until 2017. He now drives for Uber and is a consultant for the Washington Peace Center, an anti-racist advocacy group.
Last June, Green denounced officers who conducted a stop-and-frisk search on a man outside a Deanwood barbershop. “Because of the police terrorism in our community, many of the young men on the scene initially remained silent out of fear,” he wrote to Newsham.
Gray said that he is mindful about concerns of over-policing. He said he has asked Newsham to educate officers in the police academy on “community policing,” but that he still has not received a response from Newsham.
In addition to supporting violence intervention programs and the NEAR Act, which takes a public health approach to dealing with crime, Gray said he wants the police force to reach 4,200 officers. “One is not a substitute for the other,” he said of policing and other approaches.
Both Green and Rasheed said they want to address funding disparities for schools in their ward, the second poorest in the District. Rasheed also cites the need for economic development, and both agree on the need for more sit-down restaurants in a part of town that has a glut of fast-food joints.
Gray’s office has said it hopes to find funding for a bill passed last year that offers financial incentives for grocery stores to open in wards 7 and 8.
“I feel like the community is losing hope,” said Rasheed, who works as an attorney with the law firm May & Lightfoot, founded by former Ward 8 Council member LaRuby May and William J. Lightfoot, the son of former at-large Council member William P. Lightfoot.
“If the people don’t have a trust in the council member, then that’s a problem,” Rasheed said.
Whether or not Rasheed decides to run, there are others who may join the fray.
In March, Gray’s protege-turned-foe Yvette Alexander, whom Gray beat in 2016 to retake his council seat, helped oust allies of Gray from the group Ward 7 Democrats.
The new chair of the group, Derek Ford, has been mulling a run, according to sources. Alexander herself says she isn’t planning on running — at this point.
“Don’t count me in just yet, but don’t count me out,” Alexander said.
“What I’m hearing from people is they’re going to wait until the fall,” she said, predicting more candidates will jump in.
Political operative Joshua Lopez, who is close to Bowser, said he has so far been impressed by Rasheed. A Fort Dupont Park resident, Lopez says Rasheed committed to a door-to-door campaign for her ANC run, personally knocking on his door. He says it’s too early to tell if a candidate will earn the backing of the mayor’s Green Team circle, which brings fundraising firepower but has a weak record in successfully electing allies to the council.
“I haven’t heard anything from the mayor’s folks about getting behind anyone,” Lopez said. “People are just waiting to see who’s actually going to run.”
Rasheed might be able to tap her own well of connections. An endorsement by her former boss, Attorney General Karl Racine, could produce a windfall for her campaign coffers and lend name recognition.
Chuck Thies, a Gray adviser who previously served as his campaign manager and treasurer, said it’s unlikely Racine will endorse a Gray opponent. “I don’t see any reason why he would support a long shot candidate and thus diminish his stature,” Thies said of Racine, calling him a “skilled politician.”
Some millennials are “restless” with the direction of the ward, said Jimmie Williams, the most recent former chair of the Ward 7 Democrats and executive director of the Washington Literacy Center. They’ll have a chance to offer policy suggestions on Thursday night, when Gray will host an event billed as a conversation with “Ward 7 Rising Leaders,” featuring some young speakers. Gray said he will take questions from a panel and audience, and hopes to gain “two or three really good ideas” for the ward.
In terms of the upcoming campaign, Williams believes the younger candidates may be playing the long game.
“You have people running with the expectation they won’t win, but become heir apparent in the next race,” Williams said.
Unfortunately, the current list of contenders don’t have a chance. Ms. Rasheed has no real experience and lacks basic leadership skills. Mr. Green has potential but will need to revisit his position on police/community relations.
How do you know Ms. Rasheed has no real experience and lacks leadership skills? Why does Mr. Green have to revisit his positions when so many in the community feel the same way?
Good article. Well written, fair and seemingly spot on. There is a long road ahead for all. My hope is that with all this diversity in perspective and experience, we the residents of Ward 7 benefit. Put your best foot forward, focus on the issues and present the solution to the problems that exist. Many opportunities abound. Build the bridges and connect the people to what they need. #4Seven2020
I’m looking forward to a change. Under Vince Gray’s leadership, Ward 7 has been left behind. We have not seen any real change in community, our basic needs for advocacy for grocery stores, hospitals, and education have been ignored. I’m tired of our public leaders only showing up for photo opportunities. Voting for Veda Rasheed in hopes for a better Ward 7.
I don’t believe Mr. Gray who I have much respect for should be so cavalier in his attitude toward these newcomers. They are many of the residents of Ward 7 craving for real change. The fact that he was unsupportive of Howard university doctors….many who have offices already at UMC and have been serving communities east of the river health needs for YEARS and his inability to want to broker that arrangement left a poor taste in many people’s mouth. East of the river council members must demonstrate absolute commitment a definitive and intuitive knowing of their diverse constituencies and not be so tied to politics of city hall that has left many of us feeling shorthanded and left out. Get in the game or get out…there will be no middle ground this time around.
What has Rasheed done other than knock on doors and ANC? Who knows her in the ward?
VEDA RASHEED is actually the best candidate if you want real change in Ward 7. Gray is going to give you more of the same. Allow someone with fresh ideas for change to lead Ward 7.
How do we find out more about Ms. Rasheed’s ideas?
As a 7B resident, I would love to see more helpful head-to-head comparisons of their ideas, beliefs, and policies they support. I am so tired of articles like this that quote them and others, but don’t actually give us an easy to access way to read about their views and ideas.