Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd has a checkered history when it comes to election laws.

That’s why a group of elected representatives and residents in his ward are calling on him to commit to following the law, and to participate in a new public funding program for campaigns during his 2020 reelection bid.

“In every election since Councilmember Todd has joined the Council, including one in which he was not on the ballot, he has violated the city’s election laws,” reads an open letter to Todd that was signed by a group of eight current and former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, committeemen for the D.C. State Democratic Committee and D.C. Young Democrats, the chair of D.C. for Democracy, and a resident. 

Indeed, Todd was fined $5,100 by the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance in 2017 over failing to account for $83,000-worth of donations for the 2015 election that first won him his seat. Then, he did not include information about the vast majority of contributions to his 2016 reelection campaign in reports to regulators, according to a Washington Post investigation. And in the 2018 election, in which he was not up for a vote, he still earned himself a $4,000 fine for improperly using his official email list to support a school board race candidate (his preferred candidate lost).

In a statement at the time of the most recent fine, his spokesperson said Todd “looks forward to moving past this and remains focused on doing the important work of advocating for and serving the residents of Ward 4.”

But the letter-writers aren’t convinced: “It appears that Councilmember Todd considers his repeated fines a cost of doing business since he has shown no remorse for his actions,” they wrote. In the interest of proving himself, they call on him to participate in D.C.’s Fair Elections program, which matches each $1 from a D.C. resident with $5 in public funds. The trade-off? Candidates are barred from accepting donations from corporate and business entities or traditional PACs. This is the first election for the public funding program, and it’s still working out some kinks. So far, Todd has not signed up for it.

The Ward 4 group is also asking Todd to follow all election laws and “go above and beyond the bare minimum and commit to run a truly transparent campaign that is a model of ethics and full disclosure,” as well as pledging to report all his contributions prior to the 2020 elections so voters can ensure his behavior has changed.

Zachary Teutsch, a former ANC in the ward, said via email that they are calling on Todd “to commit to ending his ethical breaches, changing course, and running his first clean election campaign.”

It is not the first time that Todd has faced the ire of hyperlocal officials. A Washington City Paper article from January, which included interviews with many of the signatories on the letter, outlines their concerns: they claim he’s too close with Mayor Muriel Bowser, who hand-picked him to replace her in Ward 4, and that he’s a legislative lightweight. While many Todd detractors have talked about fielding a challenger in 2020, so far no one has declared their candidacy officially.

Todd’s office was unable to immediately respond to requests for comment.

But at least one D.C. official has already made it clear he supports Todd during his reelection campaign. Shawn Townsend, the D.C. director of nightlife and culture (a position established through legislation introduced by Todd), tweeted his support on Tuesday evening.

#4moreyears https://t.co/rZejZ3ERIF

— Shawn Townsend (@shawnjtownsend) May 14, 2019

Previously:
Councilmember Brandon Todd Fined For Violating Another Campaign Law
WTF Is Going On With Ward 4’s Brandon Todd? An Explainer