Fenty Opens Another Obama Office

This year, at-large candidate Mark Long is being labeled another Vandell because he is a childhood friend of Fenty friend and treasurer Ben Soto.

Long, who is running as an independent, was in the Ward 7 election as a Democrat. Long, Vandell and more than a dozen other hopefuls lost to Yvette M. Alexander, Gray's pick for his old seat.

All the jockeying has made the race interesting, with Democrat Kwame R. Brown being so popular that Democrats Michael A. Brown and Dee Hunter have also turned independent to have a chance at one of the two at-large seats up for grabs.

Republican Patrick Mara has also proved that he is in it for the long haul after upsetting council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) in the party's primary. Schwartz is running as a write-in. And there's even some buzz about Statehood Green candidate David Schwartzman being an alternative.

So who's ahead?

The D.C. Legal Political Action Committee, the political arm of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, commissioned a poll on the at-large council race.

Here's a little something from the poll of 595 likely voters from Sept. 19-20, courtesy of Lester & Associates. Pollster Ron Lester wrote a little summary with juicy nuggets.

"Kwame Brown now has 71 percent voter support, Michael Brown has 26 percent, Patrick Mara has 9 percent, David Schwartzman has 8 percent, Dee Hunter has 5 percent, Mark Long has 1 percent and 15 percent are undecided. So at this time, Michael Brown has a fairly significant lead and is poised to win the second spot among the candidates on the official ballot."

Ah, that's not all. That was without the Schwartz factor. When the longtime incumbent was added to the list, she scooped up 24 percent of the vote.