In Uphill Race Against Wynn, A Lesson in Determination

Theresa Dudley, right, a Green Party candidate for Congress, talks with Tracy Hartmann after putting a sign in her yard along Cheverly Avenue. (Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)

"She's a fighter. Whether you like her or not, or even agree with her or not, you have to admire that about her."

After losing to Harrington in the primary, Dudley backed Jason Fenwick, Harrington's Republican opponent.

The move, some say, hurt the former Democrat politically. But she says: "The Democratic Party has been taking African American votes for granted."

It's a safe bet that this election won't help her relationship with Wynn.

When Dudley entered the race, she said that were it not for copyright infringement laws, her campaign slogan would have been: "Watch out, Fat Albert: Here comes Dudley Do-Right."

"It just resonates doesn't it?" Dudley said. "He's become a fat cat, taking money from special-interest groups. It's time to do the right thing."

Dudley began her pursuit of a council seat in 1994, three years after moving with her husband to Landover from Springfield, Mass.

She summed up the reasons behind her decision to run for office in three words: "I was mad."

Mad about the drug dealers in her neighborhood. Mad that there were no sidewalks for mothers to push their strollers.

Dudley spent more than $10,000 of her savings in her past three races. "It was over 10 years, but that's still a lot of money," she said.

Her biggest fight was against the late Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke and his plan to build a football stadium in her community. She lost that David vs. Goliath fight, too.

Dudley said she'll be at school Wednesday. She has a bylaws committee meeting with her teachers union. "If I don't win, I'll show my students how to be gracious in defeat," she said.

"I won't be a loser because I'm at least trying."