Cropp's Gay Support Surprises Insiders

By Lori Montgomery and Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 15, 2006

Council member Adrian M. Fenty's remarkable surge in campaign donations this week overshadowed an equally remarkable accomplishment by his chief rival for the Democratic mayoral nomination, Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp .

On Monday night, Cropp trounced Fenty in a survey of about 170 members of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the oldest and most influential political organization representing the city's gay community.

During the first round of voting, Cropp nearly won the 60 percent necessary for endorsement, getting 103 votes (58 percent) to Fenty's 39 (22 percent). In a runoff, Cropp snared 106 votes, sewing up the group's support. Fenty got 41 votes (24 percent), while 24 people voted to issue no endorsement at all.

The outcome startled some political insiders, who had come to view Fenty as the candidate of gay Washington. Throughout his year-long campaign, Fenty's schedule has been peppered with fundraisers held in the homes of gay luminaries in Georgetown and Dupont Circle. What happened?

Fenty adviser and gay activist Peter Rosenstein says it's no mystery: Cropp spent time and energy rallying her supporters to the Monday night meeting at the John A. Wilson Building, a process facilitated by Cropp campaign adviser David Meadows , who was president of the Stein Club from 2004 to 2005. Indeed, Meadows engineered a news conference just before the balloting at which nine past Stein Club presidents endorsed Cropp -- a little insurance policy in case Cropp failed to hit 60 percent.

"It's old-time politics: Make sure your people are there on the one night you need them," Rosenstein said of Cropp's efforts.

So why didn't Fenty do it?

"Adrian doesn't believe in working that way," Rosenstein said. "He respects the Stein Club. But he was not about to make phone calls and urge people to show up just for one night."

Rosenstein argued that the endorsement means little anyway, because the Stein Club represents the conservative old guard of the gay community, not the larger universe of young club hoppers and up-and-coming professionals.

Cropp campaign chairman Max Berry begs to differ.

"Gertrude Stein is the most solid, responsible organization in Washington, in my opinion, representing the gay community. It's a very important endorsement," Berry said. "So we got an endorsement [Fenty] wanted. Give us a little credit."

Polls Favor Clients

If clients commission pollsters to report findings they want to hear, then Cropp and the Foggy Bottom Association got their money's worth out of two recent surveys.

Cropp's poll of 796 likely Democratic voters conducted by Diane Feldman shows the council chairman with a slight lead over Fenty, 38 percent to 36 percent -- a statistical dead heat, given the 3.5 percent margin of error. The other major contenders registered in the single digits, with 12 percent of voters declaring themselves undecided.

"Cropp's lead extends across the city with a strong lead among African American voters," reads a summary of the results obtained by The Post.

In the other poll, the Foggy Bottom Association hired the Mellman Group to survey 400 likely Democratic voters about this fall's citywide races, as well as issues related to development. That topic is extremely important to the association, which has complained that George Washington University is expanding like a cancer.

While the poll didn't actually refer to the university as a malignant growth, it was designed to communicate the message that the academic institution is interested in building more than ivory towers.

"We're fighting a David-versus-Goliath battle against a huge developer that is masquerading as a university," said Joy Howell , the association's president.

To the group's delight, even residents who don't live near masked giants are concerned about the issue: Sixty-six percent of those surveyed said developers have too much influence in land use decisions. And 88 percent said community members need to have a voice in campus land use issues.

The smaller poll differed from Cropp's in its election analysis.

In the mayor's race, according to Mellman, Fenty leads Cropp 34 percent to 28 percent, with 28 percent of the vote undecided and the three other major contenders in single digits. The poll has a 4.9 percent margin of error. Fenty holds a 3-percentage-point lead over Cropp among black voters (33 percent to 30 percent), the poll shows, and a stronger following among white voters (37 percent to 25 percent).

"Polling is a subjective business," said Cropp campaign spokesman Ron Eckstein about the difference in numbers. "The environment is still very fluid."

In the chairman's race, the poll showed Ward 3 council member Kathy Patterson with a slight advantage over Ward 7 council member Vincent C. Gray, 30 percent to 27 percent, though 44 percent remain undecided.

At-large incumbent Phil Mendelson has a 13-point lead over major opponent A. Scott Bolden, 30 percent to 17 percent, with 53 percent of voters undecided.

Incumbent Advantage

While tough races are being fought for open council seats in Wards 3, 5 and 6, the largest pot of cash raked in by a candidate in a ward race over the past three months was collected by an incumbent with token opposition.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) raised more than $176,000 during the reporting period that began March 10, according to reports filed this week with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.

Graham notes that he has spent less than $1,200 of those funds, putting him in the catbird seat as he enters the final crucial months before the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, when he could face as many as three challengers: Lenwood O. Johnson, Chad Williams and Sertira A. "Cookie" Williams .

"You've got to take it seriously," Graham said. "I wouldn't be the first popular incumbent to be knocked off."

Staff writer David Nakamura contributed to this report.