To be sure they had enough room, Ward 5 Democrats switched the venue of their April DC Council candidates’ forum from the Michigan Park Christian Church to Bertie Backus Middle School. And that was just to accommodate the crowd aiming to be on the ballot.

A dozen Democratic candidates—some tentative, others bold—rehearsed their campaign messages during a two-hour, question-and-answer session April 24 in front of an audience of 350-plus. Through April 25, 13 candidates had announced their intent to replace two-term incumbent Vincent Orange Sr., one of five Democrats in the mayoral race. No other ward with a council race this year is fielding as many candidates. But barring a tie, only one will be left standing after the Sept. 12 primary.

“It almost appears to be an ANC (advisory neighborhood commissioner) race,” said John Washington, a longtime Ward 5 resident who moderated the Backus forum. “Everybody is going to draw support from such small areas of the ward, with about 4,000 votes you could win this thing.”

If a winner were to be selected based solely on crowd noise in the Backus auditorium, then Harry “Tommy” Thomas Jr. likely would be the anointed one. At any opening, his supporters hollered, stamped their feet and hoisted high his star-studded, maroon and blue “People First” pennant-like signs.

Thus far, Thomas is one of nine Democrats who has filed with the Office of Campaign Finance. All nine have formed committees and can raise money to seek office. The others are Joe Harris, vice president of Friendship House; Ron Magnus, an attorney who recently left his job at the DC attorney general’s office; ANC commissioner (5B-03) Regina James; attorney and consultant Bruce Marshall, who served as executive assistant to William Spaulding, Ward 5’s first Council member; paralegal Miriam Moore; businessman Frank Wilds; barber shop owner Vera Winfield; and attorney Raenelle Zapata, who was the city’s rent administrator from May 2002 until last December.

As of April 25, the remaining three candidates had filed only a declaration of candidacy with the Board of Elections and Ethics. This document has always been used as a step in placing a candidate’s name on the ballot but recently people have used it to declare candidacy, a BOEE spokesman said.

Those three Democrats are: administrative assistant Audrey Ray, head of a coalition that is shaping Ivy City’s future; Steve Rynecki, a senior program officer with the Academy for Educational Development who formerly directed the Main Street program on North Capitol Street; and ANC commissioner Debbie Smith (5C-09), who owns a local spa.

The 13th candidate, Carolyn Steptoe, has registered with the DC Statehood Green Party and filed with OCF. Steptoe made a name for herself last summer as a vociferous opponent of the Community Development Corporation’s attempt to establish a historic district in the heart of Brookland. 

Not surprisingly, all the candidates promise to use their council muscle to unite the ward, deliver government services efficiently, connect the unemployed to jobs, create affordable housing, get tough on juvenile crime, restore vocational education to the school system, help seniors with their expenses and balance economic growth with the need for green space.

The Long Road to the Finish Line

Insiders tracking this race figure the somewhat cumbersome clump will be slimmed down considerably in the next few months. Nominating petitions for Democrats are available May 12. Candidates must collect at least 250 valid signatures before the July 5 petition deadline.

Becoming a council member is no cakewalk, Washington said, and candidates have to brace themselves for the long haul of forums, debates and outreach. Claiming a love for the ward isn’t nearly enough to launch a candidate to victory.

“It’s very hard work and something not everyone can do,” said Anita Bonds, in her second term as president of Ward 5 Democrats. “As the campaign season heats up, some of these realities will hit home. It would be lovely if self-selection could take place sooner rather than later. That would be truly democratic.

“And candidates need to spend money,” continued Bonds. “There’s not enough shoe leather or good intentions to take you to meet enough voters. Voter contact is paramount.”

Washington agrees with numerous others that Wilds and Thomas appear to be the frontrunners because of name recognition, but that dark horse candidates such as James and Magnus could push their way to the top if they are aggressive enough with their campaign strategies.

Wilds lives in the heart of Precinct 66, historically known for its high turnout. It’s a smattering of modest brick homes off South Dakota Avenue behind the Lamond-Riggs Library. In the November 2004 election, 65 percent of its 4,764 registered voters went to the polls.

Overall, Ward 5’s 38,700 registered Democrats number a close third behind Wards 4 and 7. Voter turnout in Ward 5 consistently ranks near 40 percent. 

Candidates know they’ll have to outpace Wilds, a campaign workhorse who moved to DC in 1971. He’s a veteran Democratic activist whose campaign organizing goes back to Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential run in 1968. Wilds is the president of a business that installs bus shelter advertising in Philadelphia and Baltimore. He was elected to the ANC 5A-02 seat in 2004 and has served as the vice chair of the Ward 5 Democrats for a year.

Wilds visibly jolted his counterparts at the April 24 forum when he told the audience: “I look at the stage and say, ‘Where’s the beef?’ Where have they been for the last eight, 10, 12 years?”

Thomas has the ultimate name recognition because his father, Harry Thomas Sr., served three terms on the council. Orange squeaked past Thomas Sr. in the 1998 primary, with neither candidate garnering more than 40 percent of the vote. Thomas Sr. died in 1999. The only non-rookie in the field, Thomas Jr. lost to Orange in 2002 but still collected 41 percent of the vote.

All three Ward 5 ANC chairpersons—Franklyn Malone of 5A, William Shelton of 5B and Diane Barnes of 5C—have endorsed Thomas. Thomas, a third generation DC native and former ANC commissioner, is the founder of Team Thomas, a community-based nonprofit.

Many older residents regale newcomers to Ward 5 about their fond memories of Thomas Sr.’s amazing attentiveness to constituent services. As Bob King, who is helping to coordinate Thomas Jr.’s campaign said: “Harry Thomas Sr. would be at a crime scene before the police got there. Maybe he didn’t get the legislative thing, but he could be everywhere where the people were.”

ANC commissioner King (5A-12), the mayor’s coordinator of senior services, is now lending his support to the younger Thomas. King is the get-out-the-vote master with a formidable voting bloc, Fort Lincoln senior citizens. He thinks the price tag for scoring the Ward 5 seat this time around could go as high as $100,000.

Magnus, a six-term member of the DC Democratic State Committee, tested the campaign waters by attending more than 260 community meetings over the last year. By law, he had to resign from his job as an assistant attorney general before declaring his candidacy; otherwise he would have been in violation of the Hatch Act, federal laws governing political activity of federal and DC government employees.

James, a former union shop steward, is frequently referred to as the most passionate candidate on the slate. She speaks with intensity about the battles she’s undertaken to rid her Brentwood neighborhood of prostitution and nuisance properties. She also has played well-documented roles in preventing a gambling casino from moving to New York Avenue and opposing a correctional facility that violated zoning laws by operating at a site off Queens Chapel Road.

Observers admire James’s spunk but said she’ll have to learn to pick her fights if she serves in the John Wilson Building.

“She’s a hard-charger,” Washington said. “If you want someone who does their homework before opening their mouth about something, then she’s your candidate.”

At its 10 AM July 8 meeting at Providence Hospital, Ward 5 Democrats will be endorsing candidates for four positions: Ward 5 council member, council member at large, council chair and mayor. That comes after a June meeting where the group will announce a platform and a 7 PM May 22 forum at McKinley Technology High School featuring candidates for council chair and council member at large seats. Local television reporter Tom Sherwood will serve as moderator at the May meeting.

Longtime political observers emphasize that council candidates should cancel their Lone Ranger act and keep humility at the top of their list of necessary attributes. Otherwise, anybody doing full immersion into the dog-eat-dog universe of the John Wilson Building will be slapped down quickly.

“You have to be prepared to sit back, listen and come up with compromise skills,” said Michael Simpson, public information officer at the Office of Campaign Finance. “If you go down there and pretend you know it all, you’ll be in for a rude awakening. It’s more than just a paycheck, it’s serious business.”