Local
Catania trails Bowser by wide margin in new poll
Post survey shows Gray and Bowser in dead heat, far ahead of others
D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser leads gay Council member David Catania by a large margin for mayor in a new poll.
A poll released by the Washington Post on Tuesday shows D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) ahead of gay Council member David Catania (I-At-Large) by a margin of 56 percent to 23 percent if the two run against each other for mayor in the November general election.
Catania, a 16-year veteran of the Council, entered the race for mayor earlier this month as an independent, becoming the first serious openly gay contender for D.C. mayor.
A poll conducted by the Post in January showed Catania and Mayor Vincent Gray (D) in a statistical tie if the two were to run against each other in the general election.
But Bowser’s lead of more than 30 points over Catania in the latest poll suggests that large numbers of Democratic voters, who might have voted for Catania over Gray, are inclined to line up behind Bowser if she wins the Democratic primary on April 1.
The same poll shows Bowser in a statistical tie with Gray in the primary. Bowser had 30 percent support compared to 27 percent support for Gray, with a margin of error of plus or minus 6.5 percent among likely primary voters.
“This is entirely unsurprising,” said Ben Young, Catania’s campaign manager, when asked about Bowser’s lead over Catania in the Post poll.
“She’s been a full-time candidate for over a year,” he said. “She spent a million dollars within the last several weeks on direct mail and other forms of advertising. Our campaign is two weeks old and we’re just getting started,” he said.
Young noted that it remains unclear who will win the Democratic primary, adding, “We are prepared to run against whomever comes out of the primary.”
According to the poll, conducted March 20-23 through both landline and cell phone calls, Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) was in third place with 14 percent; Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Busboy and Poets restaurant owner and progressive activist Andy Shallal were tied for fourth place with 6 percent; and former State Department official Reta Lewis and Council member Vincent Orange (D-At-Large), each had 3 percent. Businessman Carlos Allen had 1 percent, with 7 percent of respondents saying they had no opinion on the race.
Gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein, who’s supporting Gray, said he interprets the poll as showing Catania would most likely lose in the November election against either Bowser or Gray.
“It shows he didn’t gain any ground against the mayor since the first poll in January despite all the negative publicity against Gray,” he said.
Rosenstein was referring to the barrage of news media reports about federal prosecutors linking Gray to an illegal “hidden” campaign conducted on Gray’s behalf by businessman Jeffrey Thompson and others who have pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Gray, who has denied any knowledge of the illegal campaign activities, has not been charged in what prosecutors say is an ongoing investigation into the matter.
“It will be very hard for Catania to beat Bowser if she wins the primary,” Rosenstein said. “If Gray wins the primary, he will get support from Democrats who backed the other candidates running in the primary.”
Catania supporters, many of whom are Democrats, have said Catania is perceived by many as a reform candidate with a reputation of shaking up city government agencies to fix longstanding problems. They say his chances of winning against the Democratic nominee are good.
Although he filed papers to run for mayor, Catania would have the option of dropping out of the mayor’s race to run for re-election to his Council seat up until the filing deadline in June for independent candidates.
Cameroon
Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now
Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality
By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.
The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.
“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Bowser appoints first nonbinary person to Cabinet-level position
Peter Stephan named Office of Disability Rights interim director
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower has named longtime disability rights advocate Peter L. Stephan, who identifies as nonbinary, as interim director of the D.C. Office of Disability Rights.
The local transgender and nonbinary advocacy group Our Trans Capital and the LGBTQ group Capital Stonewall Democrats issued a joint statement calling Stephan’s appointment an historic development as the first-ever appointment of a nonbinary person to a Cabinet-level D.C. government position.
“This milestone appointment recognizes Stephan’s extensive expertise in disability rights advocacy and marks a historic advancement for transgender and nonbinary representation in District government leadership,” the statement says.
The statement notes that Stephan, an attorney, held the position of general counsel at the Office of Disability Rights immediately prior to the mayor’s decision to name him interim director.
The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Bowser plans to name Stephan as the permanent director of the Office of Disability Rights. John Fanning, a spokesperson for D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said the office’s director position requires confirmation by the Council.
Stephan couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“At a time when trans and nonbinary people ae under attack across the country, D.C. continues to lead by example,” said Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats. “This appointment reflects what we have always believed that our community is always strongest when every voice is represented in government,” he said.
“This is a historic step forward,” said Vida Rengel, founder of Our Trans Capital. “Interim Director Stephan’s career and accomplishments are a shining example of the positive impact that trans and nonbinary public servants can have on our communities,” according to Rangel.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
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PHOTOS: ‘Defrosted’
