A. Scott Bolden, today a candidate for a D.C. Council at-large seat, caused a ruckus in 2004 when, as chairman of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, he advocated endorsements in that year’s primary field.
Pitting Democrats against each other, a first for the local Party, left a bitter taste with many Democratic leaders. But it appears that will not happen again, members of the leadership team said Thursday. The city’s 280,000 registered Democratic voters looking for guidance in navigating the Sept. 12 primary ballot should look elsewhere, despite some 40 Democrats challenging for mayor, council chair, at-large council and four ward seats.
“The whole endorsement thing is a Pandora’s box,” said Dwayne Toliver, chairman of the Ward 4 Democrats.
The state committee’s role is to help Democratic candidates win election, not to choose among the hopefuls, said Katherine Boettrich, chair of the Ward 1 Democrats.
“The power of the endorsement is really when the voters come to the meeting to decide who they want,” Boettrich said. “The D.C. State Committee should just implement the ward decisions.”
Several ward organizations within the state committee have — for some time — been debating endorsements, holding straw polls, conducting candidate forums and generally getting a feel for where their membership is leaning.
In Ward 1, for example, Ward 7 Council Member Vincent Gray — who also happens to chair the Ward 7 Democrats — picked up the endorsement for council chair. Gray also won the endorsement in Ward 5, as did Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, but the membership failed to reach consensus on the other races.
“The Democratic process in progress,” said Hazel Thomas, Ward 5 Democrats’ press officer.
But Democrats in Wards 3, 4 and 6 won’t be endorsing anybody. The respective committee chairmen said the process can be divisive and confounding, given the sheer number of candidates.
“We have more or less opted for unity and camaraderie,” said Robert Brandon, chairman of the Ward 3 Democrats.
