The Barras Report Blog

A diverse crowd of nearly 300 people squeezed into the auditorium at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on Monday evening (April 20); it was a standing-room-only setting at the latest DC mayoral forum, one sponsored by The 51st, The Washington Informer and SpotlightDC. Six Democratic candidates participated in this week’s forum: Gary Goodweather, Rini Sampath, Hope Solomon, former at-large DC Councilmembers Vincent Orange and Kenyan McDuffie, and current Ward 4 Coun

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