Clark Ray

We all know that democracy is about competition and participation, but D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) must be wondering why he keeps getting challengers for his seat.

As D.C. Wire reported yesterday, former director of Parks and Recreation Clark Ray has all but officially announced he’ll be running against Mendelson in 2010, the first volley in what has so far been a slow-to-develop campaign season for the coming local elections. Ray will apparently target Mendelson’s stances on education and crime, both areas on which he has differed from Mayor Adrian Fenty and various members of the D.C. Council.

Mendo is a politician whose survival on the council remains something of a surprise. Detail-oriented and a contrarian by nature, Mendelson might be the exact type of thinking man you want working on public policy, but not exactly a guy known for glad-handing, kissing babies for the camera or, you know, actually campaigning. When he was challenged in 2006 by lawyer A. Scott Bolden, Mendelson didn’t really seem to have much of a campaign operation, leaving Bolden to relentlessly hammer at the incumbent without much of a response. Intense, widespread distaste for Bolden saved Mendo from having to worry too much, though: the incumbent won with 64 percent of the vote to Bolden’s 36 percent.

Ray is clearly organized, and he’s got the appearance of independence from the mayor’s office after being summarily fired from the top spot at DPR earlier this year. So all he needs to be is marginally likable and he might pull off a win, right? Maybe not — that’s Mendo’s charm, it seems. No one knows how to unseat him.