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Loose Lips is Washington City Paper‘s flagship political column, covering all things D.C. politics. Here you will find stories about the D.C. Council, local politicians, the mayor, attorney general, ANCs, elections, government agencies, and more.
Elissa Silverman is Drawing Flak Over Her Ward 3 Poll. Did It Really Tip Things for Matt Frumin?
A round of recriminations and finger-pointing tends to follow any close election, and as the dust settles in Ward 3, it seems At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman has been on the receiving end of most of the scapegoating. Silverman’s decision to poll the crowded, nine-way race has drawn some flak in the week since the primary,…
D.C. Dragged Its Feet in Handing Out Federal Money to Stop Foreclosures, Setting Up a Last-Minute Scramble
Loose Lips will admit, he was a bit of a procrastinator back in school, waiting until the last possible minute to turn in any big assignment. So that means the D.C. government’s feet dragging in its efforts to help struggling homeowners sure feels familiar. Since January, D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development has been…
Bowser-Mendo Council Tensions Could Snarl D.C.’s Future
In politics, it’s really pretty simple. After an election, you make a phone call, even if it’s just a perfunctory minute, to congratulate the winner. But days after the District’s Tuesday primary, neither Mayor Muriel Bowser nor Council Chairman Phil Mendelson—the leaders of the city—had spoken to each other. “I left him a message,” Bowser…
Zachary Parker Delivered Another Win for Progressive Organizers in Ward 5. Can They Keep Repeating This Success?
Zachary Parker wasn’t up against a Green Team incumbent in Ward 5, but in many other other respects, his convincing primary win sure feels a lot like the one Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George pulled off two years ago. In both cases, most politicos were expecting things to come down to the wire; instead,…
Most of D.C.’s Political Establishment Won Big Last Night, But Could Soon Face a More Antagonistic Council
Much stayed exactly the same for D.C.’s political establishment after Tuesday’s primary. Yet the results also suggest that the ground is shifting beneath their feet. D.C. voters sent a mixed message that defies easy categorization. In the three citywide races featuring incumbents, the old hands cruised to victory without much drama: Council Chairman Phil Mendelson,…
DCision 2022: Live Updates from Primary Night
Happy election night, D.C.! The journey has felt long—and things only really kicked off last October—but tonight, we can finally expect some results. Along the way, we’ve parsed the ethics of tearing down campaign signs, learned a lot about education reform and the Democrats funding it, and considered what it means to be “actively engaged”…
Salah Czapary’s Old Police Academy Instructor Doesn’t Think He’s Ready for the Ward 1 Council Job
Regenna Grier, a 35-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, remembers crossing paths with a bright young recruit about six years ago. She was impressed with Salah Czapary back then, but she can’t understand why he’s running for Council now. Grier served as one of Czapary’s instructors at the police academy and got to know…
DFER Is Absent From the Ward 5 Race, But Finance Reports Offer Clues To Which Candidate Ed Reformers Prefer
School reform group Democrats for Education Reform is dumping gobs of money into local races. The total from March through mid June, according to the D.C. chapter’s most recent finance report, comes to just shy of $1 million—a significant increase over the amount the organization spent in 2020, when two of the three candidates they…
As the Ward 3 Field Clears for a Frumin-Goulet Matchup, Other Candidates Vow to Stick Around
The Ward 3 Council race dropped from nine candidates down to six in the blink of an eye. But for all of that rapid consolidation behind Matt Frumin in an effort to stop Eric Goulet, it doesn’t seem the field will be shrinking any further before June 21. For now, at least, the four other…
In a Mailer, Anita Bonds Claimed An Endorsement from Someone Backing Her Opponent
Most political missives stuffing D.C. mailboxes these days look pretty much the same, plastered with bright colors, block lettering, and smiling faces, so it can be easy to disregard them entirely on the way to the recycling bin. But every now and again it’s worth taking a closer look. Loose Lips did just that when…
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