D.C. Council Chairman Vince Gray’s mayoral campaign appears to be gathering strength and momentum after winning five of six ward straw polls.
Gray trounced Fenty in the most recent poll, winning 581-401 in Ward 4 — and that’s in the section of the city Fenty once represented as a councilman.
“To come into Adrian Fenty’s backyard and beat him so handily is a testament to the strength of both Vince Gray’s message, as well as our campaign organization,” said Gray campaign manager Adam Rubinson.
A Fenty spokesman declined to comment.
But straw polls, observers say, better represent a small sampling of the city’s most diehard voters.
“Nobody likes to lose in their home court,” said community activist Terry Lynch, who heads the Downtown Cluster of Congregations. “But the people who go to straw polls are special interest groups and part of political machines.”
Gray has endorsements from many of the most influential unions in town, including public safety unions and the federal and District workers union. Unions are notorious for getting voters to polls.
D.C. Councilman Marion Barry attended the Ward 4 poll, flanked by members of the powerful political machine he has headed since his days as mayor. Barry hasn’t endorsed any candidate, but he was spotted wearing a Gray-for-mayor sticker Wednesday night.
“What’s most striking is the number of people who came out [to the Ward 4 poll],” said longtime political advocate Chuck Thies, who is working on Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham’s re-election campaign. “It shows both campaigns worked hard to bring supporters out.”
The Ward 4 poll had the largest turnout of the six ward straw polls, with only about 300 fewer people than the other five combined.
The crowd was also notable for who wasn’t there.
A high-ranking Fenty campaign member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, noted that most of Wednesday night’s voters were black. “There are other demographics in Ward 4 that will show up on primary day,” the Fenty campaigner said. Fenty has been courting white voters, hoping they’ll put him over the top against Gray, whose base is in the majority black neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. Ward 4’s white voters have been known for their high turnout on Election Day ever since the wealthy, white majority Chevy Chase neighborhood was included during the post-2000 census redistricting.
