As D.C. Councilmember Trayon White gears up to defend his seat and try to win a second term representing Ward 8, he’s facing both a former ally and an old rival.

White’s own former campaign manager, Stuart Anderson, is running for the Ward 8 seat along with ANC commissioner Mike Austin, the former legislative director of White’s predecessor, LaRuby May.

They both broadly dispute the effectiveness of White’s office, arguing that the incumbent isn’t welcoming enough to new development in a ward desperate for jobs and hasn’t done enough to stem the tide of violence that disrupts the daily lives of the people living in his ward.

“I’m not seeing the vigor from his office, no sense of urgency … he’s asleep at the wheel, and we just can’t have that,” says Austin, who announced a run this week.

White says such criticisms are unfounded and that he has been successful in laying the groundwork for long-term progress in the ward, especially as a first-term councilmember. White hasn’t yet officially filed for reelection, but tells DCist that he plans to do so before the end of the month. (Update: White officially announced his candidacy on January 20). 

“In my first term, I have laid the groundwork and developed community-based assets for addressing [the ward’s] problems all while bringing more resources to Ward 8 than any previous holder of this office,” White said via email (the councilmember would only agree to answer questions for this article in writing). “My approach has not been perfect, as nothing is, and I have learned a lot that will guide my efforts moving forward. However my record of success is undeniable.”

White points to a number of bills he introduced and got passed during his first term, as well as millions of dollars dedicated in the budget to grants, job training academies and other benefits for people in his ward.

Ward 8 resident Richard Campbell, who hasn’t previously held public office and remains relatively unknown as a candidate, has also filed to run as a Democrat (he did not respond to a request for comment). And two independent candidates are also planning to run in the general election, though in heavily Democratic D.C., the primaries are often functionally election day.

White declined to speculate about why Anderson, his former supporter and campaign manager, has decided to run against him. But, for context, Anderson has actually run for the seat (and against White) before.

In 2015, Anderson threw his hat in the ring in the special election after then-Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry passed away unexpectedly. Anderson dropped out of the race late in the game to support White, who lost narrowly to candidate LaRuby May, a close ally of Mayor Muriel Bowser. The next year, when White announced plans to challenge May again in the race for a full four-year term, Anderson was helming his campaign.

“I never thought White was better equipped for the job than myself, but because I thought he would be a better candidate than Ms. May, I stepped back and supported him,” Anderson says about his decision to drop out of the 2015 race. “I became campaign manager for Councilmember White to ensure the win over May. But at no time did I believe that White could do a better job than I believe I can.”

Anderson is a Democratic state committeeman for Ward 8, and a native Washingtonian, born in Kingman Park. He has close ties with the community thanks to his involvement in helping plan the MLK Day Peace Walk and Parade and organizing work helping returning citizens reenter the community at Family and Friends of Incarcerated People (Anderson was incarcerated himself for more than a decade).

His priorities for Ward 8 are addressing violence and crime, increasing access to quality healthcare in the ward (which currently lacks a full-service hospital), increasing the number of grocery stores (there are currently only two serving the entire ward), increasing employment levels for Ward 8 residents, welcoming more development that creates jobs, and making sure seniors are able to “age in place” in the homes they’ve lived in for decades.

Asked what will make his approach to these issues different from White’s, Anderson says that his method for reducing violence will involve more cooperation and better relationships with police. “It’s not that I’m going to do anything different, it’s that I’m going to do it from a different vantage point…. I will be trying to bridge the gap between MPD and the community.”

Anderson, who filed to run last year, also says that White’s office simply “isn’t as adamant” as his would be about bringing a hospital or a trauma center to the ward. “It’s just a must. A chronic asthmatic could die before he gets to the hospital,” he says.

White counters that he is the council’s biggest advocate for pouring resources into violence reduction efforts, and that the amount of funding for violence interrupter programs has gone steadily up in recent years.

“Prior to my arrival at the council, the narrative was that crime was down, which I had to fight against to develop this research-based approach to address violent crime,” the councilmember said via email. “Violence continues to be an enduring issue facing our Ward, and I have been very intentional in crafting an approach to respond to this problem in a systematic way instead of a reactive manner. I have been the chief advocate on the Council for making violence prevention and interruption a priority for the D.C. Government.”

His future plans to address violence, he says, involve focusing on a holistic approach that addresses trauma, as well as the web of interconnected problems that contribute to violence: housing insecurity, education, health disparities, and access to employment.

While a former campaign manager might make for an unexpected challenger, Mike Austin is a familiar rival. The Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner used to work in the office of LaRuby May. Despite a strong fundraising advantage, the Bowser ally only narrowly eked out a victory over White in a special election. In their second matchup, White beat May by seven percentage points.

Austin worked as May’s legislative director, focusing on bills around criminal justice, education, and economic insecurity, he says. After that, the lawyer worked in the office of Deputy Mayor for Economic Opportunity Courtney Snowden, who stepped down from her post for a job in the private sector last year following ethics complaints.

Most recently, Austin was a vice president at the troubled United Medical Center, where he has helped the city oversee operations and acted as a sort of on-site liaison for the UMC Board of Directors. He stepped down from that position to run for this seat, he tells DCist. He also serves as the ANC 8C chair.

Austin says he hasn’t seen an appropriate amount of urgency from White’s office in trying to fix the profound problems facing the ward. He points to the time two years ago when White missed a budget vote for an overseas vacation for his birthday and claims that White hasn’t introduced enough legislation.

If elected, Austin says his focus would be on stopping displacement, helping residents start small businesses by aiding them in learning to use federal programs, and increasing public safety.

“A lot of people are ready for better, they’re ready for change. In my first three months we’re going to have a plan, we’re not going to wait around,” he says. “That’s the difference already: that we’re setting goals, priorities, and expectations for Ward 8.”

White says Austin’s characterization of his tenure is “unfounded.” He points to several marquee bills, including legislation that decriminalized fare evasion, stopped the practice of suspending people’s licenses over unpaid parking tickets, expanded access to body-worn camera footage, and increased spending for low income and extremely low income family housing. White also says he helped bring millions of dollars to the ward for new recreation centers and a senior wellness facility, as well as the equitable food incubator grant that eventually led to the opening of a second grocery store in Ward 8.

He also disputed claims that he is not welcoming of development, saying that’s a “common misconception” about him, and that in fact dozens of projects have gotten underway in the ward under his tenure. On Wednesday, the city broke ground on the MLK Gateway project, which will bring new offices and retail to Anacostia.

White tells DCist that the problems of his ward are deeply entrenched, and any councilmember would need more than one term in office to make serious headway in solving them.

Historically, White has been widely supported in the ward, performing well electorally even without spending much money. And after coming under fire for promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories online, White’s popularity seemed unaffected.

“I am also the most engaged and one of the hardest working members of the Council. I am accessible, I constantly am reached out to directly to address constituents via phone, email, and social media,” he says. “I work in the Wilson Building and in the community every day, including weekends … voters will not find another candidate that is as dedicated, hardworking, accessible, community oriented, or as effective in the Wilson Building as I have been.”

The Democratic primary is taking place on June 2, 2020. In addition to Ward 8, there are also races in Ward 2 (with six candidates vying for Jack Evans’ old seat), Ward 4 (with Janeese Lewis George and Renee Bowser running against Brandon Todd), Ward 7 (with two ANC commissioners taking on Vincent Gray), and an open at-Large seat (David Grosso isn’t running for re-election).