If the growing number of campaign signs, candidate mailers, and chatty canvassers weren’t enough of a hint, it’s clear that D.C.’s June 21 primary election is drawing near. And from now until then, we’ll be collecting all of the political news, updates, and odds and ends you need (or may not even know you need) into a periodic recap. Let’s get to it.

The endorsements start flowing in Ward 5

The race for the Ward 5 seat on the D.C. Council is shaping up to be one of the most exciting this campaign season. Beyond the fact that there’s no incumbent to contend with (Kenyan McDuffie opted to run for attorney general instead, which didn’t work out too well), multiple sitting councilmembers are now lining up behind different contenders.

Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), a progressive stalwart who took office last year, announced today that she’s endorsing Zachary Parker, the Ward 5 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education.

“Zachary and I have worked together since his time as Ward 5’s rep on the State Board of Education. He impressed me then as a dedicated public servant who works with diligence and integrity,” she tweeted. “He’s also an independent thinker who will take oversight seriously, and make sure that our agencies work well. He’s not a career politician or insider: he’s a passionate public servant who puts people first, and he has the record and policy expertise to back it up.”

This comes just about two months after Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) threw her support behind Faith Gibson Hubbard, the former director of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of Community Affairs and one-time chief student advocate at the Office of the State Superintendent for Education.

Hubbard also recently drew endorsements from The Washington Post’s editorial board, the D.C. chapter of the National Organization for Women, former D.C. Councilmember David Grosso, longtime Ward 5 politics matriarch Romaine Thomas, and others. Parker, for his part, has gotten the nod from Attorney General Karl Racine, urbanist group Greater Greater Washington, the Washington Teachers’ Union, two-time D.C. Council candidate Ed Lazere, and others.

The race also includes ANC Commissioner Gordon Fletcher, former ANC Commissioner Kathy Henderson, former councilmember Vincent Orange, former NBA player and teacher Gary “To-To” Johnson, and Art Lloyd.

The ballots (and boxes) are coming!

You’ve probably started getting all types of political mailers (many of which might quickly end up in the trash). But start paying attention: Your ballot may soon be packed between everything else in your mailbox.

The D.C. Board of Elections will start mailing all registered voters a ballot as of May 16, giving you the chance to make your choices from the comfort of your home. You can of course mail the ballot back in, or alternatively drop it off at any of the 55 ballot drop boxes that will be open around town as of May 27. (See all the locations here.) Speaking of, keep your eyes peeled for voter guides from DCist/WAMU coming the last week of May!

Of course you may notice that the ballot boxes look exactly like the boxes where residents can drop off COVID-19 tests. Fear not: Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) tweeted that “both drop boxes are checked multiple times per day & they’ve coordinated just in case someone drops a ballot in a test box, or a test in a ballot box.” That’s a relief — the last thing we need is Councilmember COVID-19.

If you still want to vote the traditional way, you’ll have plenty of chances. Early voting will run from June 10-19, and the primary is June 21. (Remember: you have to be a registered Democrat, Republican, Statehood Green, or Libertarian to take part.)

The official candidate debates are on

Pretty much everyone running for office in D.C. ahead of the June 21 primary is using the city’s Fair Elections public financing program, which gives qualifying candidates matching funds for every small-dollar contribution they get from a D.C. resident.  One catch is that every participating candidate in a citywide race has to agree to a formal debate organized by the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.

Those debates have now been scheduled: Mayoral candidates on May 16, attorney general contenders on May 17, council chairperson hopefuls on May 18, and D.C. Council At-Large candidates on May 19. Each debate will happen at 7 p.m. and be live-streamed; further details are here.

The only debate that may not be much of a debate at all will be for council chairperson. Challenger Erin Palmer is using public financing and has to participate, but incumbent Chairman Phil Mendelson is raising funds the traditional way. He was invited regardless, but turned down the opportunity due to “scheduling conflicts.”

Speaking of debates, it’s never too late to go back and listen to the mayoral debate that WAMU 88.5 hosted earlier this month.

Orange you glad you didn’t have this week

While some of his competitors have spent the past two weeks nailing down endorsements, Vincent Orange has been making apologies.

The long-time fixture of D.C. politics — he served as a member of the council, and later as president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce — got himself into some hot water last week. At a campaign forum hosted by the Stonewall Democrats, Orange accused fellow candidate Zachary Parker of coming out as gay as a matter of political convenience.

The claim drew an immediate condemnation from Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), who wrote on Twitter: “Please stop. You don’t have the right to tell someone when and where they share their truth.” Orange — who had opposed same-sex marriage when he ran for mayor in 2006 — later wrote on Twitter that his views had evolved and he has been a friend of LGBTQ causes since. In an interview with WUSA9 earlier this week, Orange apologized — somewhat. “I regret if it came out the wrong way,” he said.

Orange also prefaced his statement about Parker’s sexuality by declaring that his campaign manager is “openly gay and has been openly gay for a very long time.” But his campaign manager, Franklin Garcia, told Washington City Paper that he’s not gay himself.

“That’s somebody else. He wasn’t talking about me,” Garcia said, adding that Orange may have been referring to two “honorary co-chairs,” who are gay. Orange later admitted to City Paper that indeed, he misspoke at the campaign forum.

Speaking of Orange, the Washington Business Journal has asked a judge to dismiss his $25 million defamation lawsuit against the publication, saying it has no legal merit and was filed “as a campaign tactic.”

Bowser leads in campaign cash, but Robert White touts his contributors

Since we’re in the closing weeks of the primary election cycle, candidates and campaigns are going to start ramping up their outreach to voters. And much of that takes campaign cash. Bowser, who is running for a third term, has plenty of cash to burn: Per her May 10 campaign finance filing, Bowser has just over $2.7 million in the bank.

Challenger Councilmember Robert White (D-At Large), on the other hand, reported just over $830,000 in the bank. But his campaign was quick to tout not the overall amount of money it has, but rather how many people are contributing to it.

“We received twice as many contributions on this latest fundraising report than the two-term incumbent,” said campaign manager Luz Martínez in a statement. “The mayor is funding her campaign by cozying up to developers and pressuring people who want to do business with the city. Our campaign is funded by the people, and the people are ready for a mayor who solves problems and works for them.”

According to White’s campaign finance report, he collected $28,521 from 444 D.C. residents from April 11 to May 10. (Remember that under the city’s public financing program, those contributions will be matched 5-to-1.) Bowser, on the other hand, took in $18,156 from 203 contributors.

Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8), who is also challenging Bowser, qualified for public financing last month, though he hasn’t yet filed a campaign finance report due May 10.