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Ex-D.C. mayor Marion Barry says he’ll run for council seat

Marion Barry watches as supporters donate money during the announcement of his campaign for Ward 8 seat on the Washington, D.C., Council on Saturday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Marion Barry watches as supporters donate money during the announcement of his campaign for Ward 8 seat on the Washington, D.C., Council on Saturday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

WASHINGTON – Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, whose political career survived a drug arrest and prison sentence, announced Saturday he is running for a council seat.

He will seek to represent Ward 8 on the District of Columbia Council. Ward 8 is a southeastern Washington, D.C., area of mostly poor people that long has served as Barry’s political base.

Barry, 68, announced his new comeback effort before a crowd of about 30 supporters outside his campaign headquarters. Many of those on hand still called him “mayor.”

During his third term as mayor, Barry was caught on an FBI video smoking crack cocaine in January 1990. He was convicted seven months later of misdemeanor drug possession in another incident, and was sentenced to six months in prison.

After his release in April 1992, Barry ran for the Ward 8 Council seat and won. That helped propel him to a fourth term as mayor in 1994. Barry said Saturday he has no aspirations to try for a fifth term – although he added never to say never.

Barry had considered a run for the council in 2002, but dropped those plans after U.S. Park Police said they found small amounts of marijuana and crack in his car. In a recent radio interview, Barry said the police planted the drugs. Police dismiss Barry’s claim.

Barry was treated for prostate cancer in 1995 and suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, but he said Saturday he feels fine.

A Sept. 14 Democratic primary will pit Barry against Sandy Allen, a two-term incumbent, and five other candidates. Winning that primary all but assures victory in November in the overwhelmingly Democratic ward.