Marion Barry files for Ward 8 reelection

Former Mayor Marion Barry has filed for reelection to his Ward 8 D.C. Council seat, even though he has said he plans to retire halfway through his term. Barry, 75, has said he wants to have his son Christopher take over his Council seat in two years if he wins his election next year.

Barry the elder is highlighting Ward 8’s joblessness in the release announcing his filing. Roughly 1 in 4 residents in the ward is unemployed. And he further separates the ward, where more than 90 percent of residents are black, from the rest of the city when he notes “the average income for a Ward 8 family is $25,000 while in Ward 3 a white family’s income averages $100,000.”