Donors Hedge D.C. Mayoral Bets

Many Contribute to More Than One Candidate in Crowded Primary Field

One donor says Vincent B. Orange can handle "very complex issues." (Gerald Martineau - The Washington Post)

Developer Jim Abdo had no doubts in 1998. He gave his support to one guy in the D.C. mayor's race, the ultimate winner, Anthony A. Williams. But picking a candidate is proving a lot tougher in 2006. So, like many leaders on the local business scene, Abdo is spreading the love around.

Abdo has contributed $500 to each of three Democratic candidates: D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp, council member Adrian M. Fenty (Ward 4) and former telecommunications executive Marie C. Johns. He plans to give the same to council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5).

"As someone who's got hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the District, I take this election very seriously," said Abdo, who is credited with helping revitalize Logan Circle. "No one wants to alienate themselves from a potential winner. You want to cover your bases."

There's a lot of base-covering going on in the District these days. Nearly seven months before the primary, the mayoral candidates have raised $2.3 million, almost as much as was spent during the entire 1998 campaign. A sizable chunk of it has come from developers, lawyers and other executives who wrote checks to more than one candidate.

Giving to multiple candidates is not unusual in local races, but political observers say it is rampant in this year's mayor's race as a crowded field competes in a marathon battle to replace the retiring Williams (D). Although some business leaders, for now, are trying to show support for every candidate who might win, others are pushing the business community to maximize its influence and unite for the first time behind a single candidate considered most likely to maintain the economic vitality that blossomed under Williams.

"The mayor and council races this year are more important than any since I've been in this city. You want this economic renaissance to continue, and you don't want anything to jeopardize it," said Barbara B. Lang, president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and a crusader for a united business strategy. "I just think it's wrong to hedge our bets. We need to stand for something."

Talks are underway among the chamber, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and other business groups about commissioning a poll, hosting a televised debate and perhaps issuing a joint endorsement in the spring.

Roderic L. Woodson, who co-chairs political committees at both the Board of Trade and the D.C. Building Industry Association, said it's not clear whether the diverse groups will be able to form a united front. But for the first time in years, he said, "there is a recognition that the business community needs to address things together."

The corporate call to arms stems from a sense that business has become an underappreciated cash cow at the John A. Wilson Building, the District's city hall. For example, the baseball stadium deal included huge fees for some businesses until Lang and others complained. In the fall, business taxes were briefly added to a school modernization bill without so much as a public hearing. And a bill to establish a "living wage" for some workers has included an array of provisions that upset the business community.

"There are a number of things in the District we'd like to see done in terms of social issues and making government work. But we want to be partners in that process. Don't tell us what you're going to do, then tax us to do it," said Kelvin J. Robinson, Williams's former chief of staff and the newly elected chairman of the chamber's political action committee.

Few at the Wilson Building have annoyed business groups more than Fenty, a 35-year-old council sophomore whose mayoral campaign has a large and enthusiastic following among liberal activists. Lang has a list of complaints: Fenty was among the first to push a smoking ban in bars and restaurants. He voted against the baseball stadium deal. And he was the only council member to vote against a master business license to end the long slog through city bureaucracy.

"A lot of what he has put forward plays well to the headlines. But there are better ways to accomplish what he wants to get done. And a lot of it he does without talking to people," Lang said.