Alex Wong/Getty.

Alex Wong/Getty.

Community newspaper The Northwest Current has withdrawn its endorsement of Vince Gray.

Following the allegation by Jeffrey Thompson that Gray knew about a 2010 shadow campaign, The Current will print a new editorial in tomorrow’s paper saying the new information “forced us to rethink” the endorsement of the current mayor, the Post reports.

In last week’s edition of the Current, publisher/editor Davis Kennedy and managing editor Chris Kain wrote an editorial endorsing Gray. They praised the developments he’s brought in and jobs he’s created—through projects like introducing Walmart to our city, as well as City Market at O and CityCenterDC. But they also addressed the charges brought up against Jeffrey Thompson and how that affected their perception of Gray’s honesty.

“Mayor Gray told us he is unaware of the illegal effort, and most of the people we asked about his integrity—an array of political insiders—have said they don’t question it,” they wrote. “While we think he should have been aware of the shadow campaign, we believe he was in the dark. And we think that if the evidence existed to indict him, the U.S. attorney would have done so by now.”

In their revised statement—which will be out tomorrow, but you can read it here (if you squint)—Davis and Kain say that “even within the context of Monday’s revelations, there’s still room to believe the mayor, as Mr. Thompson could indeed be spinning yarns to facilitate his plea deal. But we question whether federal prosecutors would allege Mr. Gray knew of the illegal campaign unless they had some evidence beyond Mr. Thompson’s word. Doing so would not make sense in such a high-profile case.”

In response, Gray campaign manager Chuck Thies took to Twitter to share his thoughts on The Current’s withdrawal:

Filed Under: dcision2014, jeffrey thompson, mayor vince gray, northwest current, vince gray,