Elissa Silverman raised about $7200 over the same time period, and they're now about even with ~$24k cash on hand each.
Jacque Patterson, meanwhile, managed only $1200 and no other special election candidate post meaningful fundraising. Shaping up to be a two-way race...
New: DC is illegally sitting on $1.6 million meant to help laid off Circulator bus drivers, according to a new lawsuit.
@atulocal689.bsky.social is trying to force the city to comply with a law ordering DC to use the proceeds of Circulator bus sales to help ex-employees:
wamu.org/story/26/03/...
It's hard to lend much credence to Bowser's stated reason she withheld the report because it's outdated considering a. it was commissioned before Covid and b. the council offered *two years ago* to update it and Bowser declined.
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/6623...
This comes from the ongoing ACLU/CASA lawsuit against DHS seeking to stop warrantless immigration arrests in DC.
A judge issued an injunction banning those arrests. But they want it enforced, claiming ICE has been ignoring it. Hearing is tomorrow:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
As I was being handcuffed, I asked the Spanish-speaking ICE officer what crime I had committed that led to my arrest, and he responded that I am a criminal because I am in the country illegally. I responded that if I am deported to Mexico, I will invite the officer to my home to eat carne asada. One of the other officers who did not speak Spanish said in English, “Oh, you want to make me into carne asada?” Because I understand some English, I told the officer, no, that is not what I said, and the Spanish-speaking officer did not correct him. I insisted that the English-speaking officer misheard me and was incorrectly stating what I had said.
Here's one of the more ridiculous ICE incidents I've run across:
A Mexican man was arrested by agents while waiting at a NE bus stop. He told them he'd serve them carne asada if he was deported there and they visited...but they claim he threatened to *turn them* into carne asada
DC for Democracy got pretty much every at-large candidate for tonight's forum: some interesting differences between them, but notable that every one said they'd support the business activity tax (favored by JLG to fund childcare and backed by most of the Tax Revision Commission...)
Interesting lawsuit from two members of Bowser's MPD detail here.
They claim their supervisor, Lt. Reginald Powell, launched an "ongoing retaliatory scheme" against them after they tried to use leave/reported his behavior to other city officials:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
In addition to this poll, I hear someone is testing out attacks on Brooke Pinto in the delegate race: one q asked whether her youth spoke to a lack of experience or something like that.
A lot of the other questions were about Kinney Zalesne, strongly pointing to her campaign.
New: With complaints about rising utility bills growing louder, DC regulators just approved a pipe infrastructure project that will likely drive gas bills even higher.
Many environmentalists fear it'll lock DC into using fossil fuels it's supposed to transition away from:
wamu.org/story/26/03/...
Some news toward the bottom of this story: Several prominent labor unions (like @ufcw400.org @32bjseiu.bsky.social Unite Here 25) are launching an outside spending group backing Lewis George dubbed "Safe and Affordable DC".
McDuffie will surely benefit from biz-aligned groups in the near future.
New: Kenyan McDuffie is ramping up his campaign amid speculation from supporters/opponents alike that his mayoral bid got off to a slow start.
Bowser was among those fretting about his lack of visibility. McDuffie says it's early yet, but the primary is in just 3 months:
wamu.org/story/26/03/...
No delays to tax filing...BUT he still won't count the roughly $600 million in revenue for the city's budget.
Essentially he's saying the mere risk of litigation is enough reason to keep this money out of the revenue estimate. Can't imagine the council/mayor will be pleased.
Seems like we're not going to hear more on this from the CFO today (despite Bowser's letter asking for clarity).
After this closed-door meeting, I asked @cmzparker5.bsky.social the q on so many DC taxpayers' minds: Should I file my taxes? In short, his answer is yes. His comments:
Both of these bills are now set to pass, so the fight starts over who gets credit: especially with the delegate race involved.
@freedcproject.bsky.social charges Pinto only took action once White moved his bill. She said today she's worked for weeks...but White said he never heard about it
Bowser's folks feel this means the CFO essentially hasn't decided how to interpret the AG's opinion so they're throwing up their hands, essentially making a decision better left to the mayor/council.
The full letter:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
Now Bowser responds: She feels it's "inexplicable" that the CFO wouldn't include $ from the decoupling. She wants clarity on his stance by Tues (when the tax bill expires).
A senior admin official says "in this scenario, everybody loses." The AG's opinion irks Congress, and no $
The latest twist in the DC tax saga: Despite the AG’s opinion, CFO Glen Lee says he WON’T count revenue from the decoupling bill due to “uncertainty” around Congress’ vote. This will have major impacts on DC’s budget…but at least the city’s revenue picture has slightly improved.
Notably, Jeffrey Carroll said this week that MPD couldn't collect this data.
This new bill, backed by 8 CMs but not Pinto/Mendelson, also requires the release of BWC footage, setting up some dispute about exactly how to manage the process. The bill:
dccouncil.gov/wp-content/u...
Body-Worn Camera Transparency for Use of Force Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026 (PR 26-) Body-Worn Camera Transparency for Use of Force Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 (Bill 26-) Councilmember Pinto and Chairman Mendelson 2. Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026 (PR 26-) Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 (Bill 26-)
Next week is shaping up to be a big one for bills on MPD's work with federal agencies.
Pinto's bill requiring the release of BWC footage from shootings involving federal officers on the agenda AND other CMs have a bill to require MPD to collect data on feds present at arrests.
We’re talking the DC tax mess and local elections on Politics Hour this week. Join us!
TIL it’s National Chili Day: @kenyanmcduffie.bsky.social is at Ben’s (temporary) U Street location handing out free chili and mingling with voters/business owners.
New: Anita Bonds was the foremost fighter against ranked choice voting. So there's a certain irony that RCV will play a huge role in the crowded race to replace her.
With 10 declared candidates and no obvious frontrunner, who can stand out? I looked at the state of the race
wamu.org/story/26/02/...
It also mentions "undescribed acts under FBI investigation" between 9/23 and 1/24...as rumors flew about a raid on White's campaign office.
Full filing is here:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
The Government’s opposition simply ignored the five specific examples of “other acts”evidence bad acts by Mr. White that are in addition to its allegations in the Indictment. Suchevidence, which the defense culled from its review of the discovery and specifically sought topreclude in this motion, is as follows:1) travel expenditures from CHS 1, which the Government referenced in the case agent’saffidavit in support of its Complaint in this case (ECF No. 1-1) as CHS 1 “corruptly givingWHITE gifts including travel to the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas, Nevada;2) campaign contributions from CHS 1;3) bribes relating to contracting by the company “Intralot” belonging to CHS 1;4) Failures to comply with D.C. campaign finance law and disclosure requirements;5) Undescribed acts under FBI investigation between September 2023 and January 2024.The Government should not be able to take back its prior statement that it had nointention of introducing any of these five items at trial and has intentions of introducing alleged2019 and 2020 government contracting bribery conduct as intrinsic evidence. The Governmentshould be restricted by this Court’s order from introducing further evidence if it keepsinvestigating Mr. White in the lead-up to trial and gives later notice. It is simply not fair to puton Mr. White later on the burden of preparing to meet these allegations and/or argue theirinadmissibility on the merits under Rules 403 and 404(b).
Very interesting: Trayon White's attorney writes in a new doc that prosecutors have discussed introducing evidence of "bribes relating to contracting by the company Intralot."
The informant who allegedly bribed White had a piece of Intralot's infamous sports betting contract...
Raymond says she’s also won the backing of former Ward 3 CM Mary Cheh.
It’s gonna be tough for anyone to stand out in this 10-candidate field so I’ll be very curious to see who else starts to win serious support
A bit surprising to see former Ward 7 CM Yvette Alexander (on the left in this Insta story) speaking at a recent event for Janeese Lewis George. The pair isn’t exactly aligned on many issues: Alexander was a big Bowser/RFK booster, opposed same sex marriage for years, etc.
Notably, no McDuffie on this list as I'm hearing lots of people wondering when his campaign will get more visible.
He missed last week's big Anacostia gathering to attend a fundraiser with Bowser pal Ben Soto, multiple sources tell me, which many see as a big missed opportunity.
New: AG Brian Schwalb is out with an opinion that Congress' disapproval of tax decoupling has no effect. He thinks Congress missed its 30-day deadline...and didn't apply changes to the 2025 tax year.
They say the CFO can leave current rules in place. Will he?
www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
New: A messy tug-of-war has broken out over ~$52m in unspent money.
The Council created a "contingency list" last year to guide where excess revenue would go, but Bowser won't spend it. She says the childcare subsidy needs it instead to fill gaps: will lawmakers go along?
wamu.org/story/26/02/...
