D.C. Democratic Party Straw Poll: Gray Wins Big

The District of Columbia Democratic Party held their annual convention at Howard University School of Law yesterday -- and while we're sure that the workshops and speeches by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and party chair Anita Bonds were plenty interesting, let's be honest: in a huge election year, it's all about the straw poll. The Party released the results of its poll for each office up for grabs in this September's primary last night -- and suffice it to say, there were some surprising results.

With 74 provisional ballots outstanding, Vincent Gray absolutely clobbered incumbent Mayor Adrian Fenty, taking over 70% of the vote. While the validity of any given straw poll can certainly be questioned, it's hardly a good sign for the current Mayor that he could only muster 190 votes from the party's most involved members.

Gray's win is certainly a boost, but if D.C. Wire's report is accurate, his campaign had targeted the event as a response to some crafty maneuvering by the Fenty camp at Ward 8's recent straw poll:

Gray volunteers blanketed the area with his blue signs in the morning. When Fenty supporters arrived in the afternoon, they had to scurry to create an equal presence with signs and stickers. Fenty was clearly outmatched and was booed, as well as cheered by supporters, during a forum for mayoral candidates.

Several other incumbents may also be sweating the results of the poll. Harry Thomas (facing a challenge from Delano Hunter in Ward 5) and Shadow Senator Representative Mike Panetta (whose main opposition appears to be Nathan Bennett Fleming) both won their respective races in the poll, but by less than overwhelming margins. Especially Thomas, who could barely claim a simple majority. Other results included Kwame Brown cruising to a relatively easy victory over Vincent Orange and others in the poll for Council Chair, winning with 62.3% of the votes. Phil Mendelson also claimed a straw victory, more than doubling up Clark Ray's total in the race for the At-Large Council seat.

Predictably, Norton, Tommy Wells (Ward 6) and Mary Cheh (Ward 3) all claimed victories in their respective races.

Full results of the poll, after the jump.