Move over, David Catania, there’s another Republican-turned-independent gunning for the mayoral suite. Ex-Councilmember Carol Schwartz tells LL that she’ll also be running as an independent mayoral candidate in November.

“People would call, say, ‘Carol, we need you,'” Schwartz says. “‘Come back, run for mayor.'”

In a lengthy statement, available at the bottom of this post, Schwartz says she’s entering the race after being “concerned” about the District following corruption scandals. Schwartz was ousted from the D.C. Council at-large seat that she won in 1997 after losing the Republican primary in 2008. Schwartz’s loss to rival Pat Mara came after she alienated her backers in the business community with sick-leave legislation.

Schwartz is no stranger to running for mayor, having done it four times in the past. In one bid, she scored 42 percent of the vote in 1994 against a resurgent Marion Barry.

“My desire to be mayor, that’s not new news,” Schwartz says.

Formerly sharing a party affiliation didn’t ensure tranquil relations between Catania and Schwartz when they were both in the Wilson Building. Catania endorsed Mara in his bid to take Schwartz’s seat, while Democratic nominee Muriel Bowser endorsed Schwartz.

Is Schwartz just running to ruin her old enemy’s mayoral hopes? Catania campaign manager Ben Young certainly thinks so, telling LL that it’s “100 percent clear” that Schwartz is running at Bowser’s request in a scheme he likens to 2010 Vince Gray campaign stalking horse and longshot mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown.

“They’re trying to reduce the mayoral election to a joke by bringing out Sulaimon Schwartz,” Young says.

Schwartz declined to comment on Young’s theory that Bowser put her up to running. Bowser’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.

[documentcloud url=”https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1184635-carol-schwartz-announcement-06-09-2014.html”]

Photo by Darrow Montgomery