Adrian Fenty earned the title of the District’s mayor-elect Tuesday, two months after his stunning 142-precinct sweep in the Democratic primary.
The election mystery wasn’t whether Fenty would win, but by how much. The 35-year-old Ward 4 council member, who launched his campaign on June 1, 2005, and proceeded to overwhelm his rivals with seemingly limitless energy, a reputation for responsiveness and charisma, won a staggering 89 percent of the general election tally, or 95,691 votes, with 95 percent of the precincts reporting.
“On Sept. 12, I said you did it,” he told supporters, who had gathered under a tent outside his Florida Avenue headquarters. “Well, you did it again.”
His opponents, Republican Dave Kranich and Statehood Green Chris Otten, had little chance for victory. Kranich collected 6 percent to Otten’s 4 percent.
Fenty will now move to his transition headquarters in the Reeves Center with future City Administrator Dan Tangherlini. Between now and his Jan. 2 inauguration, Fenty will further develop his administration’s policies and make hundreds of hires, but fixing schools — perhaps even vying to take control of public education — is tops on the agenda.
“We’ve got an action plan to take us through the next two months and continue through the next four years,” Fenty said, promising an inclusive, transparent transition.
Two-term Mayor Anthony Williams, meanwhile, will soon be out of a job. He has been quiet about his future plans.
“It’s exciting because it’s final,” said Fenty supporter Peter Rosenstein. “It’s anticlimatic because everybody knows the primary is the election.”
As he has throughout the campaign, Kranich said Tuesday the lack of media coverage for his candidacy was a challenge difficult to overcome. But he also was outnumbered, as Democrats carry three-quarters of the District’s registered voters, compared to the Republicans’ 8 percent.
“You’ve got to have coverage straight through,” Kranich said. “You need to be constantly in front of folks. And my opponent has been.”
With a general election victory virtually assured, Fenty was able to launch his transition early.
Since the Sept. 12 primary, he has traveled to New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, gathering best practices on all manner of government operations. On Monday,the mayor-elect’s supporters unveiled hundreds of policy recommendations in 14 areas, including education, policing, health care, affordable housing, arts and economic development.
Fenty, a District native, was joined Tuesday night by his parents and wife Michelle, who the mayor-elect said will “serve this city well for generations to come” with her “intelligence, her beauty, her ability to control twins.”
“I’m very happy for the city as well as for Adrian,” said Fenty’s mother Jan.
Part of the Washington DC Examiner’s 2006 election coverage.
