Orange, Now Plodding, Sees Room to Surge

Vincent Orange's fundraising trails that of Linda Cropp and Adrian Fenty. (Susan Biddle - Twp)

"He's playing catch-up," Alfonso said. But "there's a quiet uncommitted voter bloc whose going to turn to Orange. If citizens compare substance with fluff, Vincent can bring a lot to the table. Orange can deliver."

Orange, an Oakland, Calif., native, is married to Gwendolyn Evans-Orange, a D.C. public school teacher. The couple, who met at Howard University while Orange was attending law school, have three children. He has worked as a lawyer for the D.C. government, and he is a certified public accountant. Before being elected to the council in 1998, he was chief financial officer for the National Children's Center.

In Orange's Chinatown campaign office, dubbed Club Orange because of its bright neon sign, a large cardboard map pinpoints some of the Ward 5 development projects in which he played a key role: the arrival of Home Depot and a Giant supermarket, the restoration of McKinley Technical High School and the construction of three recreation centers.

As chairman of the council's Committee on Government Operations, Orange investigated the activities of several city officials, including the mayor, whom he questioned under oath about funneling of money by his aides through nonprofit groups. He challenged the qualifications of former inspector general Charles C. Maddox and held hearings on the city's contracting practices and unauthorized spending in the city's technology office.

Orange also pushed to bring Major League Baseball to Washington, steadfastly supporting the mayor's efforts to lure a team and build a stadium. And he boasts that as part of that deal, he secured millions for schools, libraries and laptop computers. Orange said that a bill that created Emancipation Day, a city holiday that recognizes the freeing of slaves in the District, was his prized legislation.

Orange is optimistic that support will mushroom as voters begin to examine his record.

He noted that he is plodding along like Sharon Pratt did in 1990, when she won the mayor's race after trailing in the polls and in contributions. And he noted that Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced his candidacy four months before he won the 1998 primary.

Williams seemed to come close to endorsing Orange, saying at Orange's birthday party at a Georgetown home in April that "green means go, and now Orange means go." Guests whispered that it sounded like a tepid endorsement, but Williams said he was just showing respect to "a good friend and partner in government."

Despite Orange's allegiance to the mayor, Williams later endorsed Cropp.

Being an underdog is not new to Orange. In his first campaign, 16 years ago, he lost a contest for council chairman against the popular veteran member John A. Wilson. He lost again in a special election to replace Wilson three years later. Orange also lost his first campaign for the Ward 5 seat, in 1994, against Harry Thomas Sr. Four years later, he won.

"I'm used to coming from behind and being the underdog and then winning," Orange said. "I believe Fenty has peaked. Everybody's going down. There's nowhere for me to go but up."