Former D.C. parks and recreation chief Clark Ray will run for the at-large D.C. Council seat currently held by incumbent Democrat Phil Mendelson, Ray said Tuesday, setting up what may be the city’s closest contest of the 2010 political season.
The decision to run, Ray told The Examiner, “has been in the making for several months.”
“I don’t really and truly make snap decisions,” he said. “What one thinks of oneself and what others think of oneself don’t always equal the same thing.”
Ray, 45, was drafted to campaign for Mendelson’s seat soon after his surprise April canning by Mayor Adrian Fenty. He has spent the weeks since visiting community groups across the city under the guise of a “Draft Ray” committee.
The support “was really and truly gratifying and encouraging,” Ray said.
Mendelson, meanwhile, has already raised $71,000 from 180 contributors — significantly more than he collected at the same period in his last campaign. The lesson learned, he said: “I have substantially broadened my support.
Mendelson, meanwhile, has already raised $71,000 from 180 contributors — significantly more than he collected at the same period in his last campaign. The lesson learned, he said: “I have substantially broadened my support.
“The voters want choices, and that’s what elections ought to be about,” said Mendelson, chairman of the public safety and judiciary committee. “Having said that, I’m proud of my record, and my record is better today than it was four years ago.”
A seemingly effective and well-liked parks director, Ray was fired in mid-April — he was called to the Wilson Building at 7 p.m. on a Sunday — and replaced with a D.C. schools official. Ray said he has had no conversations with the mayor about the at-large campaign, but he acknowledged that some members of Team Fenty also are in his camp.
Mendelson has evolved into Fenty’s most ardent critic and is a likely target for Fenty’s campaign machine.
“I think voters appreciate a reasoned, thoughtful, independent legislator, and that’s exactly what I’ve represented,” Mendelson said.
Chuck Thies, a D.C. political strategist, said Mendelson should be concerned about a Ray candidacy.
“Phil spends most of his time campaigning in low-income parts of town,” said Thies, who managed Mendelson’s 2002 campaign. “He takes his base of liberal white and gay voters for granted. Clark Ray is different than the candidates Phil has faced in the past. Ray can challenge Mendelson in his own backyard.”
Ray, who is openly gay, is expected to file formal paperwork next week with the Office of Campaign Finance.
