Nadeau

We just got done with one election; do we really have to start thinking about another? Yep.

Though Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) isn’t up for re-election for another year-and-a-half, he’s already got a challenger in-the-making: Brianne Nadeau, a U Street resident, former ANC commissioner and vice-president of the Ward 1 Democrats is prepping a run against the longtime incumbent. She’s been raising money throughout the year—she’s already raised $25,000 for her exploratory campaign—and will be feted at a November 13 fundraiser.

So how does Nadeau plan on knocking off a four-term incumbent, something that many other well-meaning aspiring politicos have tried and failed at? According to a blog post she wrote this week, she thinks that challenger David Grosso’s win over incumbent Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large) means that the political grounds in D.C. have shifted:

We all know that it will take a lot more to change the pay-to-play political culture here in DC than electing one new Councilmember. But last night we learned that if we can recruit a good leader and if we show up and make our voices heard at the ballot box, we can make a pretty good start at it.

Is she right? Maybe so. But she is on to one thing: it takes a lot of time, a lot of money and a troubled incumbent to pull it off. She’s certainly starting early, and there’s little doubt that the news for Graham isn’t great: only last month he was dinged for having inappropriately tried to infleunce a Metro land deal while he was on the transit agency’s board. As for money, well, Graham’s certainly no slouch there: in 2010 he raised over $300,000 for the Democratic primary, besting Bryan Weaver and Jeff Smith.