By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 31, 2006

D.C. mayoral candidate Marie C. Johns received a public show of support from a prominent Democrat yesterday, hoping the endorsement would convince doubtful voters that she is electable.

Alice M. Rivlin, former chairman of the D.C. financial control board, declared Johns the "best candidate" in the race. She said that recent "sniping" between the mayoral front-runners, D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) and council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), motivated her to speak up.

"Marie has run a positive campaign. She's not trashing anybody, and nobody is trashing her," said Rivlin, speaking in front of the John A. Wilson Building yesterday. Rivlin led the federally appointed financial authority and is currently director of the Greater Washington Research Program at the Brookings Institution.

With less than two weeks until the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, Johns has been battling conventional wisdom that the mayoral campaign has come down to a two-person race between Fenty and Cropp. "If you vote for me, I'll win" has become Johns's mantra.

Johns, lobbyist Michael A. Brown and council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) have lagged in the polls and in fundraising.

In an attempt to boost his profile, Orange yesterday mailed out a six-page glossy "contract" with D.C. voters. Education was one of the issues he focused on, calling for universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, improvements in elementary school reading programs and reopening vocational schools.

Rivlin said that she was late coming to the Johns campaign but that in recent weeks, she became convinced that Johns's combination of business skills, good ideas and proven commitment made her the best choice to lead the city forward.

"I know that she is fiscally responsible and doesn't promise the moon," Rivlin said of Johns.

Rivlin dismissed parallels between Johns and Sharon Pratt, who won election as mayor in 1990 by touting her corporate experience but was widely considered a disappointing chief executive.

"That's silly," Rivlin said of the comparison. "I'm frequently confused with Donna Shalala," she said, referring to the secretary of health and human services under President Bill Clinton. "I suppose if you see one short woman Democrat, you've seen them all."

At a ceremony at Howard University yesterday, Cropp received the endorsement of the District of Columbia Nurses Association, which represents 2,000 health-care professionals.

Fenty picked up the endorsement of the Washington Teachers' Union, which represents nearly 5,000 teachers, librarians and guidance counselors who work in D.C. public schools.