The District’s mayoral hopefuls were out in force at Saturday’s Ward 8 Democrats meeting, with Jack Evans, Muriel Bowser, and Tommy Wells each making an appearance. Even Reta Lewis was there—-her campaign has apparently invested in some Lewis-branded water bottles since LL last checked in.

While the aspiring mayors hustled for votes, only one candidate had people lining up to see him. That’d be Lino Stracuzzi, the Statehood Green candidate who’s running to replace Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. Stracuzzi, going up against an entrenched Democratic incumbent, has apparently decided the best way to win votes is to give away ice cream.

Stracuzzi, who received about 5 percent of the vote to Norton’s 89 percent in 2012, is hoping the free ice cream will convince voters to back him over Norton. He’s got the gimmick down——he managed to give away scoops while simultaneously explaining his policy proposals to LL, which range from restructuring the Federal Emergency Management Agency to a fervently expressed desire to tax Super Bowl ads.

The ice cream freezer mounted on his bike also works as a mobile fundraiser for Stracuzzi. When he’s not giving it away for free, Stracuzzi has been using ice cream sales to supplement his meager campaign treasury.

“I’ve been campaigning, selling ice cream on the bike,” says Stracuzzi. “Doing whatever I can.”

Photo by Will Sommer