D.C. Council Chair Linda Cropp is fighting a strong headwind in her campaign for mayor, in part due to a national trend against entrenched incumbents, Mayor Anthony Williams said Monday.
“This is a year of change across the country,” said Williams, a Cropp supporter. “It’s an anti-incumbent year.”
Also, the race front-runner, two-term Ward 4 Council Member Adrian Fenty, is a “great campaigner,” the mayor added.
“It’s tough,” Williams said. “I always thought it would be tough.”
But the mayor said he is confident that Cropp, a council member since 1990 and chair since 1997, would pull through and win the Democratic nomination. The primary is Sept. 12.
“I actually think she can be a great mayor,” he said. “I really do believe that because she can draw from a huge reservoir of experience, a huge depth of experience in working with all the elements in this city.”
The Fenty campaign didn’t buy the mayor’s anti-incumbent theory.
“We’re not focusing on the electoral patterns across the country,” said Alec Evans, Fenty’s campaign manager. “We’re focusing on the way D.C. residents feel about D.C.”
Williams, who declined to seek a third term, endorsed Cropp for the job in May but hasn’t been out front in the campaign. The mayor said he has primarily worked behind the scenes raising money, but he’d be willing to push more openly if Cropp asks.
Cropp said the mayor is part ofher campaign’s plans.
“Obviously it’s a strategy and we can’t put it all out,” Cropp said. “But he will be working with us.”
Cropp said she remains confident of victory. She said her message of propelling change through experience and leadership is resonating and “we’re getting more support each and every day.”
