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Embattled D.C. Mayor Will Seek Second Term

Washington Mayor Vincent Gray.
Alex Wong
/
Getty Images
Washington Mayor Vincent Gray.

The mayor of Washington, D.C., whose tenure has been marked by a federal investigation into his 2010 campaign, will seek a second term.

Vincent Gray, a Democrat, walked into the office of the D.C. Board of Elections on Monday and signed up for nominating petitions. As the AP reports, while supporters say he's done a good job guiding an economically prosperous city, four people who worked for his mayoral campaign in 2010 have pleaded guilty to felonies related to a shadow campaign that pumped hundreds of thousands of unreported dollars into an effort to elect him.

Sulaimon Brown, a fringe candidate in that campaign, has alleged that the shadow campaign paid him to remain in the race.

According to political reporter Tom Sherwood, Gray said he was confident he "did nothing wrong" in 2010.

Federal prosecutors are still investigating, but they have not brought charges against Gray.

As he filed for the nominating petitions, Gray also launched a website and sent an email to supporters saying he was "proud of the progress we've made."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.