Nearly one year into his mayoralty, Vince Gray's report card is in, and it's not pretty. Kind of. A poll released overnight by Clarus reports sagging approval ratings for both the mayor and the D.C. Council. more ›

LivingSocial released today the results of a survey it recently commissioned about how consumers in 20 major U.S. cities view themselves. The poll ranked the cities according to vanity. Washington came in at No. 8, though we topped the list in a few choice categories. more ›

There's no doubt that Washington has always been a city which loves its booze -- but that's even more true today, as research shows that people in America are drinking more alcohol than they have in decades. more ›

Ah, jizz berries, the curse of many a District autumn. Yes, it's once again about that time when the city's pedestrians find themselves pinching their noses in a desperate battle against the scent of feces and vomit, then frantically scraping the disgusting ginkgo produce from the soles of their shoes. more ›

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is no stranger to criticism from this side of the Potomac. But it appears as if voters in the Old Dominion think he'd be a fine candidate for the Republican party to field in the state's next gubernatorial election. more ›

I've been spending some time this morning playing with this infographic, released by the New York Times over the weekend, which shows the results of a Gallup poll in which 1,000 randomly selected American adults were called every day over the last three years, and asked questions like "Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?" and "Is the city or area where you live getting better as a place to live?" Gallup then plugged those responses into an index called the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index -- it's a pretty fun way to kill a few minutes. So how does D.C. stack up? more ›

Based on the accounts we've heard, it sounds like there is a small number of people who are involved with the campaign to write-in Mayor Adrian Fenty out and about at the polls today. But the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance says that the people behind the write-in campaign can't use Fenty's primary materials to promote their effort -- City Paper's Alan Suderman reports that OCF told the group that the leftover campaign literature they had been distributing did not have the appropriate disclosures. Something tells us that the ruling -- even with its threat of $500 fines for continued use -- will do little to stop people who are really behind the write-in effort from trying to give you some contraband recycled Fenty lit at the polls today. more ›

This morning, the Washington City Paper (in association with The Kojo Nnamdi Show) released what they are dubbing the "The Coolest Political Poll D.C.'s Ever Seen." It's hard to argue that claim. Sure, there's a lot of the stock mayoral polling conclusions in the numbers: young, white transplants who think that the city has gotten better over the last four years tend to skew Fenty; older, more entrenched residents who are aching for a change go for Gray. But kudos to the City Paper and WAMU for asking Washingtonians the real questions. You know, like whether people who have spent more than $25 at a restaurant in the last thirty days utilized a city swimming pool this summer. (Turns out it's about half and half.) more ›

Only four more episodes, including the reunion, to go! Top Chef may have broken The Amazing Race's streak by winning the Emmy for best reality show this year. But based on this season, we get the feeling The Amazing Race will go right back to winning the trophy next year. more ›

The poll which revealed that Vince Gray holds a big lead on Mayor Adrian Fenty as we head into the mayoral homestretch was interesting and all. But we found that there were a couple of results in the middle of the poll which were pretty shiny happy things in and of themselves, regardless of whether you're in the tank for Fenty, Gray, or are planning on writing in your dog on September 14. Based on the raw data, people just seem think that things are going pretty well around this place. more ›

This afternoon, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C. released the results of an evaluation of the "gay-supportiveness" of the politicians running for Mayor and the D.C. Council in this year's Democratic primary. The scores are based on candidates' answers on a questionnaire developed by GLAA and their records -- the final number is expressed on a scale between positive and negative 10. The results aren't really that surprising: incumbents won the day -- Jim Graham (Ward 1) and Phil Mendelson (At-Large) both received perfect +10 scores, mostly for their work in pushing forward the marriage equality bill, while Tommy Wells (Ward 6) and Mary Cheh (Ward 3) also got high marks. Leo Alexander (running for Mayor), Delano Hunter (Ward 5) and Kelvin Robinson (Ward 6) finished with the only negative scores. (Makes sense: all three have been endorsed by the National Organization for Marriage). The lone exception to the incumbent parade? The race for Mayor, where Vince Gray's +8.5 rating was much higher than Mayor Adrian Fenty's +4. Most of the candidates fall firmly into the +4 to +7 range, though there were several candidates who didn't bother to return the organization's survey. Mostly, though, we really just like that the ratings resemble some kind of fabulous turn-based strategy game where a Graham or Mendelson card is simply unbeatable. A full breakdown of the scores can be found here. more ›

There have been debates and forums, polls, candidate profiles, and high-profile endorsements. But how about some predictions as to who's going to win the District's mayoral contest? One blogger took an educated stab at it, and found that Vince Gray could well become the District's newest chief executive. more ›

With the exception of Angelo, who woulda thought at the beginning of the Top Chef season that this group would be our top six? I certainly didn't. more ›

At Week 8, we're only at the midpoint of Washington's Top Chef season. It really feels like no season has ever dragged on this long. I'm almost ready to throw up my hands and apply a Real World D.C.-type treatment to the rest of this season. more ›

I think last week's Ur Doin' It Wrong proves just how exhausting and tired this season of Top Chef has become. The DCist polls haven't shown much movement since the second week. We all know that Kenny, Angelo and Kelly are on top with 45, 20 and 17 percent of the vote, respectively. Our polls did not anticipate the previous week's dark-horse winner Kevin, who only received .6 percent of the vote. And we're all still waiting for Stephen to be eliminated -- with his complete lack of votes -- he might be worth keeping around for his drunken penguin impressions. more ›

During last week's Top Chef, two contestants were eliminated. Both Arnold and Lynne managed to garner votes in last week's poll, while Stephen is again voteless. It's almost not worth recounting last week's poll results, as Kenny and Angelo once again dominated the field, grabbing 70 percent of the total votes combined. However, we're seeing potty-mouth Alex begin to rise in the poll with 9 percent, wrenching a very distant third place from Kelly. more ›

Clear favorites have emerged! Over the last three weeks, Top Chef contestants Kenny Gilbert and Angelo Sosa have held top spots in our poll. The lone exception was the first week, when hometown favorite Tamesha Warren understandably took top honors. This week, Kenny garnered nearly 50 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Angelo only claimed a little over 20 percent, despite his success in challenges -- probably attributable to the fact that he comes off like a jerk. These two leave everyone else in the dust. more ›

If Top Chef's Week 2 challenge winners demonstrated anything, it's that the first few weeks of the competition are totally up for grabs. We saw the end of Angelo Sosa's winning streak, as 82 percent of our poll respondents accurately predicted. Pride always comes before a fall, but not before he was the co-winner of the Quickfire challenge with fellow cheftestant Tracey Bloom. Tracey received no votes in last week's poll, so one has to wonder if she was just riding on Angelo's coat tails or is a legitimate challenger. more ›

With word leaking out that D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray will be running against Mayor Adrian Fenty in September's Democratic primary, we've finally got a mayoral race to speak of. And now that the identity of Fenty's competition is clear, the question becomes how he'll run. more ›

For those of you who managed to get into work today, we're curious, what was your mode of transportation? And if it differed significantly from your usual method, feel free to note the relevant switch in the comments. more ›

The District of Columbia is the most solidly Democratic spot in the entire country, according to new polling analysis from Gallup (hat tip to the Post's Behind the Numbers blog). Not only does President Obama enjoy hugely favorable approval numbers inside D.C. (87 percent, compared to 53 percent nationwide), but Democrats have a whopping 66 percentage point advantage here. That's more than double the difference in the next most Democratic state, Rhode Island, where Democrats enjoy a 32 percentage point advantage. more ›

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee didn't fare very well in the latest Washington Post poll, either. Just as Mayor Adrian Fenty's approval rating has dropped way down to 42 percent (compared to 72 percent after his first year), Rhee's approval numbers have sunk to 43 percent (compared to 60 percent in 2008). more ›

We're going to play devil's advocate here. more ›

Yesterday the Washington Post asked a number of local political watchers, myself included, if we thought Mayor Adrian Fenty would be re-elected in 2010. Some said yes, others said no. I stressed that without a credible challenger – and none has yet stepped forward – Fenty would cruise to a second term. Well, if that capable challenger ends up being D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray, Fenty may have to start looking for a new job. more ›

A majority of D.C. voters disapprove of the job D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is doing, according to the results of a WJLA/SurveyUSA poll released this afternoon. Of 500 D.C. voters surveyed, 51 percent disapproved of his job performance, while 40 percent approved. more ›

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is running for re-election, and so far no viable candidate has formally declared an intent to run against the incumbent (though there are plenty of rumors about At-large D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown). A story from the Examiner today may help persuade someone to step to the plate sooner rather than later, however. A recent poll conducted by D.C.-based Successful Capital Strategies shows that six in ten District Democrats would be "open" to voting for someone other than Fenty in the next election. more ›

Look, I know what you're thinking: just when are Virginians going to be able to wear clothing plastered with Terry McAuliffe, Bob McDonnell, or other state candidates or messages to polls, without the fear of being expelled? When will the brutish reign which condemns them to wear but lackluster cloth ever end? For the love of all things tacky, let them free! Well, my friends to the south, I bring you good news: the Commonwealth now says go for it. [Ed. note: Alas, not until July 1st. Thanks aaronw79!] Virginia had banned wearing campaign-related clothes at polling places as a "political act" last fall, but now obviously wants to free up the market for cheap, iron-on decal shirts. (Now to await the McD/McA paraphernalia cottage industry with baited breath.) D.C.'s ban? Still in effect. Baby steps, I guess. more ›

Ice! It's everywhere today. 'Fess up if it caused you to have an ungraceful encounter with the ground on your way in to work this morning. more ›