Fenty Trails Gray In Bid For Second Term
Three years after winning every precinct in the city en route to a landslide win, more than half of DC voters would like to see someone other than Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) elected next year, according to a new poll that shows support for the young incumbent fading.
Just 43% of voters approve of Fenty's job performance, with 49% giving him a disapproval rating. Fenty, who has been dogged by ethics and transparency stories that include undisclosed family trips and using police escorts to facilitate personal bicycle rides, earns low marks for handling city finances (28% approve, 58% disapprove) and putting DC's interest above politics (30-57%). Just over a third of voters (34%) would like to see Fenty re-elected, while 53% would like to see someone else take the reins of DC government.
In a head-to-head Dem primary matchup with City Council Chair Vincent Gray, Fenty trails 41-37%.
Gray, notably, is also facing a burgeoning ethics issue, after the Washington Times reported last week that a politically-connected developer without a contracting license arranged for repairs and renovations to Gray's home in SE DC.
In a four-way primary matchup with Gray and Councilors Kwame Brown and Michael Brown (no relation), Fenty emerges with a ten-point lead, but captures just over a third of the vote (34%). Gray comes in at 24%, with K. Brown (13%) and M. Brown (6%) drawing nominal support.
"Mayor Fenty's re-election base is dangerously weak for an incumbent going into an election year," said Clarus Pres. Ron Faucheux in the poll release. "While the mayor still has the time and resources to shore up his re-election prospects before the September primary, he clearly has plenty of work to do to win back voters he's lost since the last election."
A fractious primary would seem to help Fenty in this heavily Dem city; the Dem nominee has won every mayoral election since the office was re-established under home rule in '73. But Gray's performance in the head-to-head matchup suggests that there is sufficient anti-Fenty sentiment should that sentiment be consolidated around one candidate.
Clarus surveyed 501 RVs from 11/15-18, with a margin of error of +/- 4.4%. The primary matchup questions were asked of a subsample of 437 Dems, with a margin of error of +/- 4.7%.
(STEVEN SHEPARD)
