The Barras Report Blog

IN DC, many people have asserted that the June primary will usher in a generational shift in the city’s political class. What does that really mean? Is it simply that several politicians who have been around for decades are finally leaving the arena, as in the case of the pending retirement of DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton?  Perhaps the essential question is this: Will the incoming delegate be capable of effectively breaking the creative and political rigor mortis that set in

When DC for Democracy, a far-left-leaning local political advocacy group, held a virtual forum earlier this year, candidates for DC delegate repeatedly used the words “fight” and “statehood.” Were they simply tapping into a key policy pillar of the sponsoring organization whose endorsement they hoped to win? Or were they channeling incumbent Eleanor Holmes Norton , who has been called the “warrior on the Hill” and has announced plans to retire at the end of her term this year

The can has met the end of its road.

Elected officials seem satisfied with marginal missions and mediocre pursuits when it comes to fragile families or vulnerable residents.

THEY were imported in chains, sold on the streets at auction blocks, forced to work from sunup to sundown, made to serve as breeders before being castrated or raped, hung from trees for sport, relegated to the most menial jobs, denied the opportunity to own homes or to receive a quality education, subjected to mass-incarceration and other manner of injustice--and yet, they slipped through the cracks, jumped the obstacles and barriers, succeeding along the way, building stron

LAST year, during the city’s annual budget deliberations, Ward 5 DC Councilmember Zachary Parker was on the hunt for money to fund a local child tax credit ; undoubtedly, he hoped it would be the signature legislation for his first term, allowing him to comfortably campaign for reelection. However, even with the possibility of an end-of-the-year surplus, the city’s economy was on the ropes, making it difficult for him and the legislature’s other spendthrifts to satiate their

Democrats must remember we back Black and Brown working-class voters by becoming more relevant to daily life.

DEMOCRATS ended 2025 with important victories that steadied a rattled party still reeling from Donald Trump’s return to power. Yet even after those wins, Democratic approval ratings remain stubbornly low. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found only 18 percent of voters approve of the way congressional Democrats are handling their jobs. A record low of 73 percent disapprove. In stark contrast, congressional Republicans have a 35 percent approval rating while 58 percent dis

I kept thinking of the Bamiyan Buddhas as I watched Donald Trump engage in an aggressive campaign of cultural cleansing the last 12 months.

It’s truly a cart-before-horse world in the District.

FORMER DC at-large Councilmember Bill Lightfoot declared during an interview with me that this moment in the city’s political life is “an opportunity.” Is that an understatement?  After all, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Councilmembers Anita Bonds and Brianne Nadeau have all announced they won’t seek reelection. The ambitions of other officeholders, including Ward 4’s Janeese Lewis George, Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto, at-large member Robert White and Council Chair Pro Tempore Kenyan McDu

“Honoring the will of the voters means protecting voter access, voter understanding, and voter confidence — especially for communities that have historically been disenfranchised in our election systems,” Ward 7 DC Councilmember Wendell Felder said last week during a roundtable convened by the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor. The intense three-hour discussion was convened to focus on the Board of Elections’ general preparations for the upcoming 2026 primary an

Could a wrong move or the perception of shenanigans regarding the MCO contracts bring attention from Republicans looking to use health care the way they have used crime to bludgeon the city’s ability to govern itself, replete with warnings of a full-on federal takeover?

If we are, in fact, drifting toward a second Blacklist Era, the way out will look familiar--not only in the courtroom, but in the streets.

Trump and his minions have severely and deliberately narrowed the definition of political violence. As is their practice, they have massaged and manipulated language, thrusting their version of Webster’s into the public sphere and bullying the media, elected officials and others into adopting it.

Trampling on home rule has been a nonpartisan affair.

Like our brand, the key infrastructure Democrats need to win is crumbling. 

Five months after DC voters approved the “Make All Votes Count DC” ballot initiative that could bring semi-open primaries and the...

“I was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and part of my life was lived during segregation. My family protected us. They also educated...

Dorothy Gibbs chanted “save our parks” from her wheelchair while holding a sign that read “97 years old, still fighting for public...