Facing his first electoral test since a kidney transplant three years ago, Marion Barry, the former Washington mayor who saw his political career interrupted by prison and later staged a comeback that drew national attention, says he’s ready to take on four Democratic challengers and has the record to win an 11th election.
“There is no one who has lived in Washington, D.C. or lives in Washington, D.C. who has not been directly or indirectly helped positively by my leadership,” Barry, 75, said in an interview with The Washington Examiner. “You can see concretely our efforts.”
But as Barry gears up for the April 3 Democratic primary and marks the third anniversary of his transplant on Tuesday, his health remains a lingering question.
Earlier this year, he had urinary tract surgery and paramedics assisted him ahead of Mayor Vincent Gray’s State of the District address, an episode he said was caused by a buildup of fluid in his legs.
Still, Barry said his body — which has endured a bout with prostate cancer, more than two decades of hypertension and diabetes and drug use that a federal judge once called “compulsive” — is able to withstand the rigors of campaigning and governing.
“I think that for 75, I’m beyond good health,” Barry said. “My greatest deficiency is not enough exercise.”
He said that he goes to a gym two or three times a week and plans to increase his exercise regimen.
But Barry’s most immediate plans focus on his political life. In campaign finance reports filed in January, Barry reported just shy of $8,700 in his campaign account, trailing that of longtime Southeast activist — and frequent Barry foe — Sandra Seegars. Chuck Thies, a District political consultant, said Barry’s runner-up status in campaign financing won’t be a concern.
“He can turn on the money spigot when he wants to,” Thies said.
For his part, Barry said he’s ready for a fight.
“I’m an excellent politician,” he said before traveling to a union meeting. And the night before his campaign kickoff, he declared on Twitter, “The Barry machine has been activated,” a reference to his coalition of supporters.
Seegars said she thinks the former mayor’s political power has dwindled.
“He doesn’t have the big people around him like he did before,” Seegars said. “If anything, I intimidate him.”
But Barry has already sounded familiar campaign themes: improving schools, reducing the income gap between his ward — the city’s poorest — and neighborhoods west of the Anacostia River and increasing business for African-American-owned companies.
“The poor and the most vulnerable people don’t have the ability, knowledge, etc., to speak for themselves and I’ve taken it upon myself to be one of those people who will speak out loudly and strongly,” said Barry, whose campaign slogan hails him as “a courageous fighter who delivers.”
But despite Seegars’ confidence, Thies wondered how much of a campaign Barry will have to mount to win re-election.
“There is opposition to Marion for all of the obvious reasons,” Thies said. “Marion’s base turns out … and there is no one who has galvanized what opposition there is.”
