Vincent Orange

1. The top candidates who consonant Kenyan McDuffie in Ward 5 Four of the seven candidates are thought to be serious competitors, based on campaign donations, endorsements, and the opinions of political analysts. With early voting having started in the first week of June 2021 and Election Day being less than two weeks away, the leading contenders have largely established their individual paths.

2. Gordon Fletcher entered the race before McDuffie revealed he would give up the seat. The declaration came soon after he successfully resisted a deliberate attempt (backed by McDuffie) to remove him from his position as the Democratic Party’s ward leader. The challengers were all female, and there were sexism claims made, which Fletcher, an advisory neighbourhood commissioner in the district with one member, 5A08, refuted. He has leaned heavily on his personal experience while running for office, positioning himself as the first immigrant to hold the position. He was born in Jamaica, raised in New York, and has lived in Washington, D.C., for most of his adult life. He also highlights the backing of Joe and Joan Bowser, the mayor’s parents (the mayor has not supported this campaign), and his accomplishment in stopping a liquor store from opening in his neighbourhood. Vincent Orange follows, of course; the Ward 5 election wouldn’t exist without him. In the previous 12 years, nearly half a dozen times, orange has been on local ballots. And during that time,

3. according to an article, he accrued more than $100,000 in debt, including sums owed to unpaid consultants and credit card companies. He has also held the office of Ward 5 (and at-large) councilmember, and he is highlighting this experience in his current campaign. Politicians believe that VO is trying to rely on his consistent base of support while the other candidates split the vote and he manages to secure a slim majority. Orange did run into trouble because the ward has changed dramatically while he has occupied the seat. Over the past years, white and Latinx residents have grown in number while black residents have left. On the road, Orange has made it abundantly clear who he has seen as his major rival. A collection of left-leaning organizations, that included DC for Democracy, the D.C. Working Families Party, and the D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, have endorsed Zachary

4. Parker, the youngest contender. Orange criticizes Parker for his left-leaning opinions, but he has also come under fire for remarks he made about Parker’s decision to come out as gay in public. Parker is the State Board of Education’s current representative for Ward 5. In addition, Faith Gibson Hubbard quietly stands out from the competition for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that if she got elected, she would had become the first woman to represent Ward 5 on the Council. The person who has the closest ties to Bowser is Gibson Hubbard, who has been appointed to a number of posts in her administration, including director of a program that helps parents and young children, trustee of a library, and, most recently, director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs. The interim director of the Department of Housing and Community Development is her husband, Drew Hubbard.

5. Because of these selections, some have questioned if Gibson Hubbard will be overly subservient to the mayor, an accusation Gibson Hubbard dismisses as nothing more than a baseless political attack. According to financial disclosures from 2021, Parker and Gibson Hubbard have raised the most money among their competitors. According to an analysis by local activist Keith Ivey, about 20% of Parker’s contributions come from the same donors that supported Robert White’s mayoral campaign, while Gibson Hubbard shares around 23% of donors with Bowser.