D.C. Mayor Gray to name new chief of staff

Alarmed at what they were seeing, the former campaign strategists swooped in, unpaid, to help Gray salvage the goodwill that seemed to be eroding.

“I was reading the coverage. The Vince Gray that was being portrayed in the media was not the Vince Gray I knew,” McMahon said. “At some point, in chatting with the team, we all agreed, ‘We have to jump in and change the trajectory. . . . We need to try to hit the reset button.’ ”

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McMahon said that the mayor explained that he had been so focused on the city’s budget that he lost sight of the toll that negative coverage was having on his administration.

But the mayor didn’t begin to lean on them heavily until a June poll by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, which showed a dramatic decline in his popularity. Gray also turned to former mayor Sharon Pratt, who had seen her popularity plummet during her single term in office. Gray served as director of the Department of Human Services during Pratt’s tenure in the 1990s.

‘A wide net’

In recent weeks, Gray asked his advisers to meet with Murphy and Pringle. Other candidates were eliminated through similar meetings.

Pratt said that Murphy “came to my attention when we cast a wide net among colleagues about candidates.”

“Chris comes to the table with established experience. He’s got Hill experience. He knows the city,” Pratt said. “He is reflecting a new generation, a younger generation that I think will be beneficial as well.”

Murphy’s job will be to make sure that the administration’s decisions are effective and ethical, according to Gray advisers.

Murphy wasn’t initially recommended by the team of four strategists, but Elleithee said that he was endorsed as a clear break from the District’s political machines. “He’s not beholden to any of them,” Elleithee said. “He can say, ‘I’m not old guard. I’m not new guard. I’m different guard.’ ”

Pringle’s role will be more focused on helping Gray shape his message, although Gray said Pringle would not replace Linda Wharton Boyd, the mayor’s director of communications.

Pringle has worked on the messages of several campaigns, including as senior adviser to Bill Richardson’s presidential run. Millionaire developer R. Donahue “Don” Peebles hired Pringle when he was considering a run for mayor last year.

With Murphy and Pringle in place, Gray will begin a new approach to governance that reestablishes his relationship with residents. “He’s interested in getting out there and re-connecting with the people who put him in office,” McMahon said. “The theme is ‘One City,’ a better city, a brighter future.

“What Andi and Chris will help him do is put together a narrative,” McMahon said. “You have to tell a story of a city on the move . . . and not just on one side of the (Anacostia) river. It isn’t always obvious to people. You have to connect the dots.”