This Summer, Sum of Change will be bringing you extensive coverage of D.C. local elections. We are constantly working to build a comprehensive mix of candidate bios and election news. To find all our current DC Democratic Primary candidate bios, please visit our 2010 DC Primary Page. For all candidates, view our 2010 DC General Elections Page.

Council Chairman Vincent Gray

From Chairman Gray's official online bio:

Vince’s dedication to his community and the residents of Ward 7 inspired a successful campaign for elected office in 2004 where he handily defeated the incumbent in the primary. During his first term as City Councilman from Ward 7, he chaired a Special Committee on the Prevention of Youth Violence, and created the Effi Barry HIV/AIDS initiative. Two years after joining the Council, Vince ran for the citywide office of Chairman of the Council. Running on the theme of “One City,” he continued his focus on uniting the disparate racial and economic groups in his hometown. He won the general election with 98% of the vote.

As Chairman, Vince has been a leader in efforts to improve the Council’s operations, transparency and oversight capacity, and has been a true champion for school reform. As Chairman, he spearheaded the Pre-K Expansion and Enhancement Act, which established a voluntary, high-quality pre-school program which will provide 2,000 new classroom slots for three and four year olds over the next six years.

Chairman Gray recently received the endorsement of DC police and firefighters, and endorsement that appears to be as much about their disapproval of Mayor Fenty as it is their approval of Gray.

"Mayor Fenty has done nothing to warrant the endorsement and support of D.C. firefighters," said Ray Sneed, president of the firefighters' Local 36. "From a labor standpoint, he is unreachable, unapproachable and our correspondence goes unanswered."

Chairman Gray took some heat recently when his proposed budget basically eliminated the popular streetcar line. By the end of the day, most of the the funding had been restored after the Chairman's office was inundated with calls from DC residents.

From an interview for the Washington Post, published on May 30th, 2010:

In graduate school, I had a professor who said to me, "What do you know about mental retardation?" I was a clinical psychology major, and I said, "Well, to be honest, not a lot." She said, "I'm on the board of the Association for Retarded Citizens, and I would really like you to think about taking a summer job there and see what you think." So I did. They sent me to a conference at Forest Haven, a really infamous institution. I walked around the grounds, up to this really high chain-link fence. While I was standing there, this staff person literally herded about 20 women out who had absolutely no clothes on and started hosing them down. It was one of the most dehumanizing things I've ever seen. I stood there, I looked at it, and it was one of those defining moments. I said: I think I could do something that makes a difference here.

Last updated by Will Urquhart on May 30th 2010