Courtesy Dwayne Toliver.

It has been looking like Brandon Todd would run away with the Ward 4 D.C. Council race, but Dwayne Toliver is hoping that former Mayor Vincent Gray’s endorsement helps make it a more competitive race.

“It is a hugely important time to have an independent Council to ensure there are solid checks and balances across the District government,” Gray pointedly said in a release today. ““I have known and worked with Dwayne Toliver for over 10 years. I am certain he is the best choice to represent Ward 4 on the Council.”

The contingent of Ward 4 residents who don’t want to see Bowser’s protege in office has yet to coalesce around a candidate, but Gray’s endorsement may help Toliver make the case to rally around him.

In the Democratic mayoral primary last year, Bowser won less than half the vote in her home ward, so there is certainly some room for a strong candidate. But the field currently remains even more fractured than the primary, which saw Bowser carry the ward with 45 percent of the vote to Gray’s 23 percent, Tommy Wells’ 18 percent, Andy Shallal’s six percent, and Jack Evans’ 5 percent.

Earlier this year, Gray also endorsed former staffer Sheila Bunn in the Ward 8 race.