D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s former deputy chief of staff said she became a distraction for the administration, citing that as the main reason for her resignation.
Andrea Pringle, who was brought on as part of a fresh start for the administration, resigned late Wednesday. She had quickly come under fire just days into the job last week when she was accused of voting illegally in the District during last September’s primary election.
“I have always placed the interests of the greater good above my personal desires and wishes,” Pringle wrote in her resignation letter. “At this point I feel the greater good will be served by me stepping aside.”
In a separate statement, Gray said it is “important that we not allow any distractions from my administration’s focus on its four major priorities: economic development and job creation, education reform, public safety, and responsible fiscal management.”
Pringle was the subject of a complaint filed Friday by a government watchdog group, alleging that she violated District election law when she voted in the 2010 primary election in September — nearly six months after she moved out of the city to Bethesda.
Pringle said last week she had considered her move from D.C. to Bethesda as temporary and never changed her voter registration. She voted in the primary, but did not vote in D.C.’s special election held in April. She had plans to move back to the District, where she has lived for much of the past decade.
The complaint to the Board of Elections and Ethics was filed by DCWatch Executive Director Dorothy Brizill. Those found in violation of the law can be punished with up to a $10,000 fine and five years in prison.
Earlier on Wednesday, the mayor said at a news conference that Pringle was still on the job. Gray said he had been unaware of the voting issue until the news broke last Friday. He called Pringle’s decision to vote in the primary election an honest mistake and said voting records had not been vetted during the hiring process.
