A new poll shows that D.C. voters are not swinging their support behind any one mayoral candidate, but it does make one thing clear: Mayor Adrian Fenty is the white candidate and D.C. Council Chairman Vince Gray is the black candidate.
About 61 percent of white D.C. Democrats polled by the independent Clarus Research Group backed Fenty, compared with 54 percent of black voters polled supporting Gray. The poll, which contacted 501 registered voters, was released Wednesday morning.
The poll did little to shed light on the mayoral race itself. Gray led Fenty by a mere 3 percentage points (39 to 36), well within the poll’s 4.4 percent margin of error. A whopping 22 percent of voters remain undecided.
The poll’s primary finding, then, was that “the electorate is sharply divided by race,” said Clarus President Ron Faucheux.
“The poll sets the table for people to begin discussing the contest in terms of race,” said political consultant Chuck Thies, who is working on Councilman Jim Graham’s Ward 1 campaign.
The discussion began Wednesday afternoon during WAMU 88.5’s mayoral forum. Host Kojo Nnamdi’s first question asked the candidates to respond to the idea that “dog parks, bike lanes and street cars are intended to benefit only one group; new residents, meaning affluent whites and not the other group, meaning poor blacks.”
Gray answered first, saying, “It’s regrettable that we have this apparent racial divide in the District of Columbia and there’s a perception in this city that some people are getting more than others.”
On the campaign trail, Fenty has boasted about the opening of those dog parks and expanding the city’s bike lanes.
But Fenty said he’s also done much more.
“My record tells a story of an administration that has done a tremendous amount on the east side of this city,” he said.
That means black neighborhoods, and Fenty apologized for not informing those residents of the work he has done.
“I think it’s my fault,” the mayor said. “I think I have to do a better job of telling people what I’ve done.”
Fenty issued a similar apology during a debate last week when he promised to be more inclusive and a better communicator. A new television advertisement released Wednesday morning has Fenty pushing the same apologetic message.
“I’ve made my share of mistakes,” he says in the 60-second spot. “Going forward, I’ll learn from them and be more inclusive.”
