Vincent Gray favored in races for two D.C. Council seats, poll finds

A poll commissioned by Vincent Gray’s former campaign manager shows the former mayor leading among likely Democratic voters in both a hypothetical Ward 7 race and an at-large D.C. Council contest this year.

Chuck Thies, who ran Mr. Gray’s failed re-election bid in 2014, released Monday night the results of a poll that likely is testing the waters for the former mayor to run for one of two seats on the Council.

Mr. Gray, who also has represented Ward 7 on the Council, hasn’t confirmed whether he is running for any office in the District, but conceivably could enter the race this year for the Ward 7 Council seat held by Yvette Alexander or the at-large seat occupied by Democrat Vincent Orange.

Ms. Alexander, a Democrat and political protege of Mr. Gray, took over his spot in 2007 after he successfully ran for Council chairman.

According to the poll, Mr. Gray leads in a hypothetical at-large race with 32 percent to Mr. Orange’s 20 percent. But 32 percent of those polled said they didn’t know who they’d vote for. David Garber and Robert White, who also were included in the poll, received 10 percent and 6 percent respectively.
The at-large poll surveyed 1,569 likely voters District-wide.

Mr. Gray also leads in polling for the Ward 7 race. Of the 407 likely voters polled, 48 percent supported Mr. Gray with 32 percent for Ms. Alexander, 6 percent for Ed Potillo and 14 percent undecided.

Mr. Thies’ poll also looked into Mayor Muriel Bowser’s job approval across the District, showing 45 percent of voters surveyed approve of her performance in her first year as mayor. The rest of likely voters polled included 29 percent who disapproved and 26 percent who were undecided on her performance.