Video: The Washington Post’s Michael Debonis delves in to a Washingotn Post poll surveying District of Columbia residents’ opinion of Mayor Vincent Gray.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray is politically wounded, but none of the D.C. Council members who have shown interest in succeeding him have a clear edge should they move to capitalize, results of a Washington Post poll show.
Meanwhile, residents say that if they could vote today, they would overwhelmingly reelect Adrian M. Fenty over fellow Democrat Gray. That result comes after three operatives have pleaded guilty to crimes connected to Gray’s 2010 campaign.
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A new poll finds no clear favorite among mayoral hopefuls, but Fenty would beat Gray if vote were today.
Mayor says the perception he is not doing enough is “not a reality,” declines to comment further on poll that says majority thinks he should resign.
A majority of D.C. residents say Gray should resign, according a new Washington Post poll.
No ideal successor is in view as the District starts thinking about who should succeed Mayor Vincent Gray.
Fifty-four percent of city residents believe Gray should resign, according to the poll, but the mayor said he has no plans to do so and has called on the public to allow a federal investigation into his campaign to play out. Prosecutors have not said Gray was aware of or participated in the schemes.
But The Post reported in May that the scandals have led a trio of legislators to consider their mayoral ambitions — Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6). Since then, Evans and Wells have openly said they would consider running for mayor in 2014 if Gray did not step down sooner. Bowser has not publicly spoken about her intentions but is quietly exploring with advisers what a mayoral run might involve.
None holds a clear advantage over the others in the citywide electorate, the poll indicates. Asked about their impressions of each, one-half to two-thirds of residents have no opinion.
At 35 percent, residents have the highest favorable opinion of Evans, the longest-serving current member of the council, and 13 percent have a negative view of him. For Bowser and Wells, about one in four have favorable impressions, and about one in 10 have unfavorable views.
The figures among residents generally are largely the same as those among registered Democratic voters.
All told, the results show that if any of the three were to mount mayoral runs, they would have the challenge and the opportunity of introducing themselves to large swaths of city voters who are not familiar with them. Each politician is best known and best liked in his or her home area.
Riggs Park resident Lenya Gregory-Perkins, 51, called Bowser “very responsive” and “good with constituents.”
“It’s not intimidating talking to her, being a female,” she said. “She has a diverse background, she’s great with all cultures. . . . Most of all, she has integrity.”
But Gregory-Perkins, owner of a hair salon, questioned whether Bowser has the experience to be mayor. “She’s doing so much here in her ward now. . . . I don’t think that’s something that’s on her appetizer plate. Maybe on her dinner plate,” she said.
Lorraine Hill, a 63-year-old retired nurse living in nearby Lamond-Riggs, said she was impressed when Bowser showed up at the scene of a devastating fire several months ago. “There were no cameras. It wasn’t like she was going be a superstar or anything. She didn’t come like that.”
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) have citywide favorability numbers generally comparable to Evans’s. The remaining at-large council members, Michael A. Brown (I) and Vincent B. Orange (D), have previously sought the mayoralty but have not discussed any plans to do so now.
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