Yes, it’s been quite some time since we caught up with District politics, especially given that it’s an election year. But here are some updates and tidbits.

Fenty, Cropp, Fenty, Cropp: For those of you following the District’s mayoral contest, the city’s political establishment has whipped itself into a frenzy trying to predict whether Linda Cropp or Adrian Fenty will win the Democratic primary in September. Up until recently, the general consensus was that Cropp was inching ahead, benefiting from D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’ endorsement and Fenty’s recent public missteps. With the announcement this week of the most recent campaign finance reports, though, the momentum has swung to Fenty, whose $636,000 take over the last three months put him ahead of Cropp in total money raised and cash on hand. Rest assured this momentum is fleeting — the fickle nature of the District’s political establishment will soon have Cropp on top once again, but not for long.

The Other Candidates: Of the three remaining candidates, Michael Brown and Vincent Orange are playing peripheral roles at best, with Brown struggling to stay solvent (he has but $2,000 left in the bank) and Orange being, well, himself. Marie Johns, though, continues her impressive outsider run for Williams’ job, consistently surprising crowds and the media with her ideas and her delivery. Political analysts are tying themselves in knots trying to figure out what role she might play in the election. Will she take votes away from Cropp, the only other serious female contender, handing Fenty the election? Will she pull a Sharon Pratt Kelly, pick up the Post’s endorsement, and fight her way to victory? Will she score the winning goal for a resurgent U.S. squad in their coming game against Italy? Who knows.