David Krucoff, a commercial real estate agent who has made headlines in recent years as the city’s leading advocate for an alternate proposal to D.C. statehood, is challenging incumbent council member Mary M. Cheh (D) to represent Ward 3 in 2022.
Now Krucoff wants to represent the ward where he was born by selling voters on a platform that includes streamlining government services and more robust police spending to deter crime.
“There’s something going on here; we need to have police, walking the beat, on bicycles, being more persistent,” he said. “I will not look to defund the police, but to invest properly and earn rapport with the police so they can do their jobs.”
Krucoff is running as a Republican, even though the D.C. Council has not seen a Republican member since 2009 (no Republicans have ever held a Ward-level seat; there have been three Republican at-large members in the council’s history).
He has become known over the years as one of the leading proponents of “retrocession" — an alternative pitch to D.C. statehood that would make the city Maryland’s 24th county, though it lacked support from key players. While he believes the proposal is still a viable one, he said it will not be the focus of his campaign, nor something he would push for if elected.
Krucoff will use public financing for his campaign. So far, he and Cheh are the only two candidates who have filed for the Ward 3 seat.