Local
Pannell trailing in D.C. school board race
Phil Pannell (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Gay Democratic and Ward 8 civic activist Phil Pannell was running second in a nine-candidate race for a seat on the D.C. Board of Education representing Ward 8 in the city’s special election on Tuesday.
Unofficial returns from the Board of Elections and Ethics showed Pannell with 716 votes, or 27.8 percent, trailing political newcomer and community activist Trayon White, who had 885 votes with 33.2 percent of the total.
D.C. voting rights advocate and LGBT rights supporter Eugene Dewitt Kinlow was running third, with 434 votes and 16.3 percent of the total.
An election board spokesperson said it would take another 10 days for the board to count absentee ballots cast by mail, curbside ballots cast by senior citizens or voters with disabilities, and special or provisional ballots cast by those who register to vote on the same day as the election.
Spokesperson Alysoun McLaughlin said the board sent out 3,953 absentee ballots by mail and had received only 785 back as of earlier this week. She could not predict how many more would come back. They must be postmarked no later than Election Day, April 26, to be considered valid, she said. It could not be determined at press time how many ballots cast in Ward 8 remained uncounted.
Pannell said he contacted White by phone on election night to congratulate him on his apparent victory. Pannell’s campaign workers and supporters gathered at the Player’s Lounge restaurant on Martin Luther King Ave., S.E., on Tuesday night to await the election returns.
“I think I ran a good campaign and did everything I possibly could have done,” Pannell said. “Obviously I’m disappointed.”
Michael Sainte-Andress, a longtime friend of Pannell’s who served as the Pannell campaign treasurer, called Pannell a highly skilled and “tireless” advocate for the Ward 8 community over a period of at least 30 years.
Sainte-Andress said he believes Pannell was the most qualified among the candidates running in the Ward 8 race but was concerned that some conservative voters in the majority black ward would be reluctant to vote for an openly gay man.
“They know all of the good things Phillip has done in this community for so long,” said Sainte-Andress. “They acknowledge that he has helped many of them over the years. But for some in this community – they just can’t bring themselves to vote for him.”
Others familiar with the Ward 8 race said Pannell was placed at a disadvantage to at least some degree over the circumstance that resulted in the Ward 8 seat becoming vacant. Longtime community advocate, teacher and Ward 8 school board member William Lockridge, 63, who was well known and liked in the community, died suddenly in January of complications from a stroke.
Lockridge’s widow, Wanda Lockridge, played a key role in recruiting Trayon White, 26, a family friend, to run for her husband’s seat, according to sources familiar with the race. Although most political observers in Ward 8 who know White consider him a bright and enthusiastic community advocate, some feel he lacks the experience and knowledge of others who competed for the seat, including Pannell.
White won the endorsement of Ward 8 D.C. Council member Marion Barry, who many view as one of the lead power brokers in the ward. The Washington Teachers Union also endorsed White, who recently graduated from the University of Maryland.
The Washington Post endorsed Pannell, citing his many years of community service in the ward and involvement in Ward 8 school issues.
Pannell also won the endorsement of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group.
Unofficial returns from the election board show the following results for the Ward 8 school board race: Trayon White Sr., 33.2 percent; Phillip Pannell, 26.8 percent; Eugene Dewitt Kinlow, 16.3 percent; Anthony Muhammad, 8.7 percent; Sandra S.V. Williams, 6.9 percent; W. Cardell Shelton, 2.8 percent; Tijwanna Phillips, 1.8 percent; R. Joyce Scott, 1.5 percent; Larry Pretlow, 1.4 percent.
District of Columbia
D.C. Council urged to improve ‘weakened’ PrEP insurance bill
AIDS group calls for changes before full vote on Feb. 3
The D.C.-based HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute is calling on the D.C. Council to reverse what it says was the “unfortunate” action by a Council committee to weaken a bill aimed at requiring health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
HIV + HEP Policy Institute Executive Director Carl Schmid points out in a Jan. 30 email message to all 13 D.C. Council members that the Council’s Committee on Health on Dec. 8, 2025, voted to change the PrEP DC Act of 2025, Bill 26-0159, to require insurers to fully cover only one PrEP drug regimen.
Schmid noted the bill as originally written and introduced Feb. 28, 2025, by Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member, required insurers to cover all PrEP drugs, including the newest PrEP medication taken by injection once every six months.
Schmid’s message to the Council members was sent on Friday, Jan. 30, just days before the Council was scheduled to vote on the bill on Feb. 3. He contacted the Washington Blade about his concerns about the bill as changed by committee that same day.
Spokespersons for Parker and the Committee on Health and its chairperson, Council member Christina Henderson (I-At-Large) didn’t immediately respond to the Blade’s request for comment on the issue, saying they were looking into the matter and would try to provide a response on Monday, Jan. 2.
In his message to Council members, Schmid also noted that he and other AIDS advocacy groups strongly supported the committee’s decision to incorporate into the bill a separate measure introduced by Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) that would prohibit insurers, including life insurance companies, from denying coverage to people who are on PrEP.
“We appreciate the Committee’s revisions to the bill that incorporates Bill 26-0101, which prohibits discrimination by insurance carriers based on PrEP use,” Schmid said in his statement to all Council members.
“However, the revised PrEP coverage provision would actually reduce PrEP options for D.C. residents that are required by current federal law, limit patient choice, and place D.C. behind states that have enacted HIV prevention policies designed to remain in effect regardless of any federal changes,” Schmid added.
He told the Washington Blade that although these protections are currently provided through coverage standards recommended in the U.S. Affordable Care Act, AIDS advocacy organizations have called for D.C. and states to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP in the event that the federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced or ended federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
“The District of Columbia has always been a leader in the fight against HIV,” Schmid said in a statement to Council members. But in a separate statement he sent to the Blade, Schmid said the positive version of the bill as introduced by Parker and the committee’s incorporation of the Pinto bill were in stark contrast to the “bad side — the bill would only require insurers to cover one PrEP drug.”
He added, “That is far worse than current federal requirements. Obviously, the insurers got to them.”
The Committee on Health’s official report on the bill summarizes testimony in support of the bill by health-related organizations, including Whitman-Walker Health, and two D.C. government officials before the committee at an Oct. 30, 2025, public hearing.
Among them were Clover Barnes, Senior Deputy Director of the D.C. HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration, and Philip Barlow, Associate Commissioner for the D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking.
Although both Barnes and Barlow expressed overall support for the bill, Barlow suggested several changes, one of which could be related to the committee’s change of the bill described by Schmid, according to the committee report.
“First, he recommended changing the language that required PrEP and PEP coverage by insurers to instead require that insurers who already cover PrEP and PEP do not impose cost sharing or coverage more restrictive than other treatments,” the committee report states. “He pointed out that D.C. insurers already cover PrEP and PEP as preventive services, and this language would avoid unintended costs for the District,” the report adds.
PEP refers to Post-Exposure Prophylaxis medication, while PrEP stands for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis medication.
In response to a request from the Blade for comment, Daniel Gleick, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s press secretary, said he would inquire about the issue in the mayor’s office.
Naseema Shafi, Whitman-Walker Health’s CEO, meanwhile, in response to a request by the Blade for comment, released a statement sharing Schmid’s concerns about the current version of the PrEP DC Act of 2025, which the Committee on Health renamed as the PrEP DC Amendment Act of 2025.
“Whitman-Walker Health believes that all residents of the District of Columbia should have access to whatever PrEP method is best for them based on their conversations with their providers,” Shafi said. “We would not want to see limitations on what insurers would cover,” she added. “Those kinds of limitations lead to significantly reduced access and will be a major step backwards, not to mention undermining the critical progress that the Affordable Care Act enabled for HIV prevention,” she said.
The Blade will update this story as soon as additional information is obtained from the D.C. Council members involved with the bill, especially Parker. The Blade will report on whether the full Council makes the changes to the bill requested by Schmid and others before it votes on whether to approve it at its Feb. 3 legislative session.
By PAMELA WOOD | Dan Cox, a Republican who was resoundingly defeated by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore four years ago, has filed to run for governor again this year.
Cox’s candidacy was posted on the Maryland elections board website Friday; he did not immediately respond to an interview request.
Cox listed Rob Krop as his running mate for lieutenant governor.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Expanded PrEP access among FreeState Justice’s 2026 legislative priorities
Maryland General Assembly opened on Jan. 14
FreeState Justice this week spoke with the Washington Blade about their priorities during this year’s legislative session in Annapolis that began on Jan. 14.
Ronnie L. Taylor, the group’s community director, on Wednesday said the organization continues to fight against discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. FreeState Justice is specifically championing a bill in the General Assembly that would expand access to PrEP in Maryland.
Taylor said FreeState Justice is working with state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Arundel and Howard Counties) on a bill that would expand the “scope of practice for pharmacists in Maryland to distribute PrEP.” The measure does not have a title or a number, but FreeState Justice expects it will have both in the coming weeks.
FreeState Justice has long been involved in the fight to end the criminalization of HIV in the state.
Governor Wes Moore last year signed House Bill 39, which decriminalized HIV in Maryland.
The bill — the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act — is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in 2024. FreeState Justice said Marylanders prosecuted under Maryland Health-General Code § 18-601.1 have already seen their convictions expunged.
Taylor said FreeState Justice will continue to “oppose anti anti-LGBTQ legislation” in the General Assembly. Their website later this week will publish a bill tracker.
The General Assembly’s legislative session is expected to end on April 13.
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