Councilmember Jack Evans hasn’t faced a single challenger for his Ward 2 seat since 2008. Now, amid a federal investigation into ethics issues, the embattled lawmaker is facing two.

Jordan Grossman, a first-time candidate and Shaw resident, announced this week that he will run against Evans in the June 2020 D.C. Democratic primary.

He says his number one priority “far and away” is ending corruption. Grossman supports a current proposal to ban lawmakers from holding outside employment, but wants to go further and bar councilmembers from ever lobbying on behalf of for-profit entities after they leave office.

The 33-year-old lawyer recently left his position as a director at D.C.’s Department of Health Care Finance. He also serves as a member of a policy committee for his local ANC. Much of Grossman’s other professional experience is with the federal government: he served as a staffer for Sen. Amy Klobuchar and in several roles for President Barack Obama’s administration.

“A lot of the, frankly, embarrassing corruption issues that have come up around Jack [Evans] is what sparked my sense that I wanted to get involved in running for Council,” Grossman says.

Evans has been the subject of a series of scandals over the past year. He introduced legislation that would have benefitted a digital sign company that reportedly tried to give his consulting firm $50,000 and offered his son an internship. And the councilmember, who also serves at the head of Metro’s board, used his government account to send business proposals for his private consulting firm.

A federal investigation is underway (earlier this year, his colleagues and the mayor received subpoenas for their communications), and the D.C. Council has reprimanded him and stripped him of some of his responsibilities as the chair of the Finance Committee.

While a group of activists set out to directly recall Evans from office, others are looking to the next election.

(D.C.’s Democratic primary—which tends to be tantamount to the general election in such a deep blue city—is scheduled for June 16, 2020. But because it would be the last primary in the country in a highly competitive presidential year, some local officials have floated the idea of moving the date up by a few months.)

“Working in government is a privilege, it’s not a business opportunity,” Grossman says. “I just think enough is enough. Especially after three decades, I think we can do a lot better.”

Evans’ former campaign chair, Patrick Kennedy, is also in the running. The 27-year-old has served four terms as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in Foggy Bottom.

Kennedy has already signed up to participate in the city’s new public campaign financing law, and Grossman says he will, too.

There’s another commonality between the two men: both have been alive for roughly the same amount of time that Evans has sat on the D.C. Council.

It isn’t lost on Grossman. “The median age in Ward 2, I believe, is around 31 years old,” he says, adding that his other priorities include issues that affect young people and families like childcare and housing affordability. “We have a councilmember who, only in the last few weeks, was standing up for the interests of the 1 percent of people who have four cars. So I think that there’s something to be said for having our generation represented on the Council.”

But even dogged by scandals, Evans has long been a fixture on the D.C. political scene, and it isn’t likely to be simple to oust him.

“It’s not easy to take out an incumbent. And whenever Jack launches a re-election campaign, if the Sword of Damocles isn’t hanging over his head, there’s no indication his money will dry up,” longtime D.C. political operative Chuck Thies told WAMU recently.

Still, Grossman says he isn’t worried about splitting the vote with Kennedy.

“One thing that’s great about this area is it’s a dynamic ward,” he says. “And I think there are a lot of folks who are maybe newer to the area and very open to a new voice and and a fresh approach.”

Previously:
Jack Evans’ Former Campaign Chair Is Running For His Council Seat
Notes On A Scandal: WTF Is Going On With Ward 2’s Jack Evans?