A Democrat who sought election to the mayor’s seat is now angling for the Ward 4 D.C. Council seat being vacated by Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty.
Michael Brown, who has formed a committee to explore possible election to the seat, brings the number of possible candidates running for the post to four.
Candidates cannot officially file until the D.C. Board of Election declares Fenty’s seat vacant in January. A special election in the spring will be scheduled to fill Fenty’s seat and that of incoming Council Chairman Vincent Gray, who will vacate his Ward 7 seat to take up his new role.
Brown, 40, is a native Ward 4 Washingtonian and a lawyer. The Ward 4 race will be his second attempt to be elected to public office. He said Monday he realized during his mayoral bid “that Ward 4 mirrors the District of Columbia more than any other ward in the city.”
Brown has raised about $20,000 for his race. He said his main focuses, if elected, will be “raising the bar” for constituent services and Georgia Avenue redevelopment.
“It’s too easy to say education, public safety [are top issues],” Brown said. “They will always be issues until there are no crimes in the community and the District’s public schools are No. 1 in the nation.”
The race for the Ward 4 seat could be an interesting one. Fenty has said he supports another intended candidate, Democrat Muriel Bowser, who has served as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. She could not be reached Monday.
Fenty worked as an intern for a political action committee in the 1990s of which Brown was a board member, Fenty spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said.
Another intended candidate, T.A. Uqdah, has launched a Web site for his exploratory committee.
D.C. Statehood Green Party member Renee Bowser has also stated her intent to run for the seat.
