What a sleepy week for the candidates who would be Vince Gray! Barring a surreal campaign video or two, the mayoral race stayed quiet this week, which is why the Mayoral Power Rankings are led by…
1. Muriel Bowser
What: Bowser’s campaign chugs along, avoiding the kind of catastrophic campaign screw up that remains the one thing that could undo the Ward 4 councilmember.
Why: It won’t make any dent in Bowser’s polling, but her attempts to avoid debates grow increasingly comical. First she chose debates in Wards 3 and Ward 8 that are both nearly on the Maryland border on the grounds that they’re “conveniently located.” Now, the organizer of a candidate forum where Bowser won’t have to interact with the other candidates worries that calling his event a “debate” will “jinx” him.
LL readers won’t be surprised by Washingtonian‘s thesis that Bowser isn’t mentor Adrian Fenty. Heck, no one who isn’t living a jet-setting life with Steve Jobs‘ widow is! But Harry Jaffe‘s story has some interesting observations nonetheless, including Bowser’s reluctance to talk about her personal life and that SUV of hers as her “only extravagance.”
Momentum: Solid.
2. David Catania
What: Another week passes by, and Catania loses another seven days to shake up his 17-point poll deficit behind Bowser.
Catania’s campaign, incidentally, continues to suspect that the race is much closer than the NBC4/Post poll suggested (an issue LL explored more last week). Catania campaign manager Ben Young tells LL this week that he trusts his campaign’s polling more.
“It’s not lost on me that Carol’s number and David’s number are exactly the same in my poll,” Young says.
Why: The puppet thing was funny. But it was also weird and scattered. For bizarro campaign videos, LL will stick with Mike Gravel.
Momentum: Rising.
3. Carol Schwartz
What: Schwartz released an affordable housing platform. Her Carol Schwartz–themed Pontiac Firebird also made an appearance.
Why: It’s Friday, so let’s do a Carol Schwartz thought experiment. If you’re the vengeance-driven Schwartz posited by the Catania campaign (which Schwartz says has no connection with reality), do you try to get Catania back for the 2008 primary loss that he helped along by spoiling his mayoral ambitions with a bid of your own? Or do you ride your name recognition and willingness to self-fund into Catania’s D.C. Council at-large seat, and frustrate his mayoral plans from the dais for four years?
Momentum: Falling.
Honorable Mentions: Eternal mayoral hopeful Vincent Orange, who’s taking the issue of District government small-business spending as far as he can. The Attorney General Race, which is going to get some great forums next week as LL moderates one on Sunday afternoon at Sixth & I, then does it again Monday night at H Street’s Rock and Roll Hotel.
Photos by Darrow Montgomery