Free Republic

Muriel Bowser won the District of Columbia’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday, defeating incumbent Vincent Gray in a race defined by a scandal involving Gray’s campaign four years ago. Bowser tapped into an electorate that tired of the allegations surrounding Gray. Five people who worked on the mayor’s 2010 campaign have pleaded guilty to felonies, and Bowser said the city needed a fresh start as the mayor faced potential criminal charges. Bowser, 41, is a D.C. councilmember and a protégé of former Mayor Adrian Fenty, whom Gray defeated in 2010. …

After months of bitter campaigning, the race for the Democratic nomination for D.C. mayor ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with polls closing and voters deciding whether to grant scandal-tarred incumbent Vincent C. Gray the chance for another term. Early returns showed Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) with a 48 percent to 28 percent lead over Gray, with just 9,300 votes counted...

Embattled Washington Mayor Vincent Gray called in a notorious predecessor, Marion Barry, to prop up his reelection campaign Wednesday afternoon. Gray got exactly what he deserved. “Vince Gray,” Barry told a modest crowd in a church basement in Southeast Washington, “is a leader with a solid crack record.” The self-proclaimed mayor for life caught this Freudian slip. “Track record,” he corrected. Barry, now a 78-year-old City Council member in failing health, is, famously, the one with the crack record. Gray’s problems are of the campaign-finance variety. His lawyer has said he expects the mayor to be indicted in a federal...