At a news conference the day after federal prosecutors revealed the details of an unaccounted “shadow” campaign that had been waged on his behalf in 2010, Mayor Vince Gray said that his bid for the District’s top job was not conducted in the most ideal manner. And while the revelations cast misgivings about how Gray won his seat, the mayor also said he still plans to finish out his term.

“I have no plans otherwise,” he said. Still, Gray acknowledged that his campaign two years ago had many faults, which are only now coming into the public’s view.

“This is not the campaign we intended to run,” said Gray, who held his biweekly press briefing in an alleyway in Northeast D.C. The location was selected to highlight a program by the District departments of Environment and Transportation that aims to cut down on waterway pollution, but reporters at the conference were eager to discuss a different kind of plumbing.

Yesterday, local business owner Jeanne Clarke Harris pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to collecting money from family, friends and other contacts and using it to pay for 2010 campaign materials and staff that were not reported to the Office of Campaign Finance. More than $653,000 of the funds for the shadow campaign came via Jeffrey Thompson, the District’s largest contractor and a major donor to elected officials citywide.

“I’ve known Jeanne for a very long time and I feel very badly about this,” Gray said about Harris, who faces between 30 and 37 months in prison.

Throughout the press conference, though, Gray attempted to draw the line between campaigning and governing, mentioning his administration’s efforts on crime prevention, education, development and, given the setting, environmental sustainability. Gray also reminded reporters that he was one of the first to call for an investigation into his own campaign when allegations arose that fringe 2010 candidate Sulaimon Brown had been paid off to lob attacks at then-Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Of course, the biggest question that hangs over the continuing investigation of Gray’s campaign by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ron Machen is whether Gray was aware of the off-the-books tactics being waged on his behalf. Gray said he was under the assumption that his campaign’s reported contributions—about $2 million for a run that officially began in late April 2010—was enough.

“I actually thought we had raised a lot of money, to tell you the truth,” he said. As for the source of donations, Gray added that it would have been impractical for him, or any other candidate for office, to personally inspect each contribution. “I don’t think any candidate can say, ‘I’m going to sit down and review every check.’ “

But the lingering question was whether Gray is still fit to lead the District. The Post’s Tim Craig asked if Gray still considered himself the best person to sit in the mayor’s office.

“I think so,” Gray replied. “That’s why I wanted to make the distinction between the campaign, which we know there were problems, and governing.”