Many Contribute to More Than One Candidate in Crowded Primary Field
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 26, 2006
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.
Privately, many business leaders say they see the race as a choice between Cropp, an experienced politician with strong ties to business, and Johns, the retired president of Verizon Washington who has performed well in candidate forums. But some are also giving to Fenty, in part because he holds a substantial lead in private polls, including one commissioned in the fall by the Board of Trade.
"A lot of people think Adrian tends to stake out a position that doesn't take business considerations into account very much, or the city's fiscal health. However, a lot of people also read the polls, and they think that Adrian has a good chance to win," said Robert A. Peck, who stepped down recently as Board of Trade president.
As a result, Peck said, donors hedging their bets are helping drive Fenty's fundraising. He leads all candidates with more than $900,000 in total contributions and has a formidable stockpile -- more than $600,000 -- as the race begins in earnest.
Fenty said most of his donors are hardcore supporters "who have contributed to our campaign exclusively." He acknowledged that a good percentage of his money comes from donors who gave to more than one candidate. But he said many of those donors are genuinely impressed by "the energy in my campaign."
"I think it's a hard case to make that I'm somehow anti-business," Fenty said, reeling off a list of projects he has supported, including redevelopment of the old convention center site, the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative and an array of corporate bonds and tax breaks. "The support I'm getting shows that people know that our campaign is comprehensive in its approach."
Because D.C. law permits donors to give individual and corporate contributions of up to $2,000 apiece per candidate, it's hard to say exactly how much money has come from multiple givers. But a sample of just two dozen donors turned up more than $70,000 in divided loyalties, with the gifts going mainly to Fenty and Cropp, who ranks second in the polls.
Among the donors: America Online founder Jim Kimsey, who gave $2,000 apiece to Cropp and Fenty; developer John E. "Chip" Akridge III, who did the same; malpractice lawyer Jack H. Olender who, along with his wife and law firm, gave Cropp $6,000 and directed $1,500 to Fenty; and developer Bill Alsup who, along with his wife, has given Fenty and Cropp each $4,000.
Few were willing to discuss their reasons for giving to more than one candidate.
One who was, lawyer Doug Patton, said the apparent momentum of Fenty's bid was a motivating factor for his gift of $400. Patton also gave $500 to Johns, a political novice he views as an up-and-comer, and he plans to give to Cropp.
"Adrian votes against a lot of stuff I wish he wouldn't vote against. But he works hard, he's energetic and he might win," said Patton, a former deputy mayor under Williams who launched the National Capital Revitalization Corp.
Lawyer Mark H. Tuohey, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission and a lead negotiator on the ballpark deal, gave Fenty $500, despite his vote against the stadium plan. Tuohey also gave $1,000 to Cropp and $250 to Orange, both supporters of the deal.
"I'm going to keep an open mind," Tuohey said, adding that Cropp, as council chairman, "probably enjoys the advantages of that office" and is "attracting a lot of Tony Williams supporters." During the long fight over baseball, he said, "she showed a lot of leadership."
Count Abdo in the camp of folks taking a long, hard look at the race. A resident of Northwest Washington, the developer got his start in 1996 rehabbing crack houses near Logan and Dupont circles. Abdo has since built an award-winning company with more than 30 developments in and around the District, many of them models of historic preservation and community cooperation. His latest is a $1 billion plan to revitalize the city's Northeast gateway by building shops and housing along New York Avenue.
Abdo said his contributions are intended to encourage a vigorous debate among "four candidates I like."
He called Cropp a "qualified leader" and said Orange has "the intellectual capacity to get his mind around some very complex issues." Meanwhile, he said, Johns appears to be someone who is not afraid to make hard decisions. As for Fenty, Abdo called him a "good person" who raises "good issues about wanting to see more people benefit from the renaissance of this city."
In the end, Abdo said, "you have to know how to drive the city's economic engine while at the same time making the city more inclusive to more people."
Staff researcher Derek Willis contributed to this report.
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