Two weeks ago Mayor Adrian Fenty filed the official paperwork for his re-election to a second term. You might have figured this was a mere formality, and he would get to the actual business of campaigning by and by.
Guess again.
On Dec. 6, Fenty is kicking off his re-election campaign with a fundraising party at the home of a supporter in Forest Hills. Consider this an invitation: price of admission is raising $25,000.
This answers two questions:
First, Fenty has no intention of being a one-term mayor.
Second, he has no intention of taking a job with the prospective Obama Administration, should the Democrat win the presidency next week.
In Fenty’s first run for mayor in 2006, he started two years before the election. Though he’s running as an incumbent, and a very popular one, he’s clearly taking no chances.
“I never want to look back and say ‘I should have started earlier,’ ” Fenty told me yesterday afternoon. “I’ll be running 100 miles per hour.”
Can we expect any different approach this second round?
“Every campaign is different,” he said. “I want to have the same sense of urgency. The idea is to leave it all on the court.”
Fenty will bring in the same team that helped elect him the first time. His campaign will be chaired by attorney William Lightfoot, who served on the City Council; and businessman and lawyer James Hudson. His chief strategist will be Tom Lindenfeld; John Falcaccio will run the money side.
Anyone who doubted Fenty loves to campaign should have trailed him on Primary Election Day last month.
Stumping for Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans, under the appreciative eyes of Lindenfeld and Falcaccio, Fenty held campaign signs aloft for what seemed to be an eternity, and he shook hands as if he were the one on the ballot.
Last time around Fenty was the fresh insurgent running in a field topped by then City Council Chair Linda Cropp. He creamed her from Anacostia to Chevy Chase and won every precinct.
Who might take him on this time?
“I’m prepared for anyone to run against me,” he said.
By getting out of the gate so quickly, Fenty could be forcing the hands of any challengers.
It also assures him of having a fat war chest that will be hard to match.
The only current politician mentioned as a potential challenger is City Council Chair Vincent Gray. But Gray had to be convinced to run for the chair, he lacks fire in the belly, and he’s having difficulty running the council.
It’s not farfetched to consider that Fenty might run unopposed or without serious challengers.
Starting immediately, his motto could be: Six More Years! And he just might get them.
