SAN FRANCISCO — Former eBay executive Meg Whitman is defending $119 million in contributions she has made to her campaign for California governor — a personal spending rate that has now surpassed that of any other political candidate in American history.
Click here to find out more!
Whitman's campaign this week reported another $15 million contribution from the billionaire GOP candidate in her bid to defeat Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown.
During a visit Wednesday to the San Francisco headquarters of Yelp, Whitman said the contributions from her personal fortune mean she won't be beholden to special interests if she wins.
She also said she must spend a lot of money in a state where there are 2.3 million more registered Democrats than Republicans.
"Our job is we have to tell my story, tell why I will be the very best governor for California," she said. "And then at the same time we have to acquaint Californians with Jerry Brown's record of failure."
The $15 million contribution Whitman's campaign reported late Tuesday push her personal contributions past a previous record set by New York Mayor Bloomberg, who spent $109 million in his campaign for a third term last year.
Bloomberg spent about $185 per vote for his re-election, and he did not take donations.
Whitman, however, has spent the summer aggressively fundraising for her general election race against Brown.
Her ads have played for months in every TV market in California. She said she has hired the best political team and needs to compete with unions that are spending millions of dollars to prop up Brown's campaign.
Asked whether there is a limit to how much she will spend, she said, "It's not unlimited, but I just want to be sure that we're doing the right thing."
US News
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Richard Simmons to Michelle Obama: I Can Help
Picture this: Frizzy-haired exercise guru Richard Simmons doing his trademark booty shake with first lady Michelle Obama, the nation's fitness model. "I could help her and be a servant for her project," says Simmons, who's eager to help Obama's effort and maybe even cut a video with her. "I've probably talked to more overweight people than anybody and I know what can turn people around." Fitness, he says, needs to extend into the classroom as early as first grade, where students should be taught "to understand the importance of food and the way their bodies work." Simmons has been working with California Democratic Rep. George Miller to pass the "FIT Kids Act," which boosts K-12 P.E. classes. Meanwhile, he says, "PTAs need to come up with ideas, schools need to make money, not wait on the government to give them money."
US News
US News
White House Sends Spending Wish List to Congress
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is pushing a pre-election shopping list on its Democratic allies in Congress as they prepare must-pass legislation to prevent a government shutdown next month.
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Republicans are protesting the spending requests, which include $1.9 billion for school grants, financial help for the Postal Service and more than $4 billion requested by the administration to finance settlements of long-standing lawsuits against the government.
A back-of-the-envelope tally by Republicans puts the price tag of the Obama requests at more than $25 billion, including $5.7 billion to prevent shortfalls in the popular Pell Grant program and $5.5 billion the cash-strapped Postal Service.
The White House is targeting a bill to continue funding the government past the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year to carry its spending requests. The measure is needed because Congress is failing to pass the annual spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government.
Such stopgap funding bills typically don't carry controversial legislation or large spending initiatives. But the stopgap measure is the last measure that Congress absolutely has to pass before the elections, and so it is a tempting target on which to add unfinished business.
"The Obama administration, Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leaders are going to try and use this (stopgap bill) as a 'Hail Mary' pass for more government spending and policy items in a frantic last dash before the election," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.
The administration also wants to renew parts of last year's economic stimulus
measure, including $800 million for child care grants to states.
Some of the proposals, including $1.2 billion to remedy discrimination by the Agriculture Department against black farmers and $3.4 billion for mismanaging Indian trust funds, passed the House and Senate earlier this year as part of larger legislation but were stripped out due to cost concerns.
US News
Click here to find out more!
Republicans are protesting the spending requests, which include $1.9 billion for school grants, financial help for the Postal Service and more than $4 billion requested by the administration to finance settlements of long-standing lawsuits against the government.
A back-of-the-envelope tally by Republicans puts the price tag of the Obama requests at more than $25 billion, including $5.7 billion to prevent shortfalls in the popular Pell Grant program and $5.5 billion the cash-strapped Postal Service.
The White House is targeting a bill to continue funding the government past the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year to carry its spending requests. The measure is needed because Congress is failing to pass the annual spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government.
Such stopgap funding bills typically don't carry controversial legislation or large spending initiatives. But the stopgap measure is the last measure that Congress absolutely has to pass before the elections, and so it is a tempting target on which to add unfinished business.
"The Obama administration, Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leaders are going to try and use this (stopgap bill) as a 'Hail Mary' pass for more government spending and policy items in a frantic last dash before the election," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.
The administration also wants to renew parts of last year's economic stimulus
measure, including $800 million for child care grants to states.
Some of the proposals, including $1.2 billion to remedy discrimination by the Agriculture Department against black farmers and $3.4 billion for mismanaging Indian trust funds, passed the House and Senate earlier this year as part of larger legislation but were stripped out due to cost concerns.
US News
Tea Party Powers an Upset Win by O'Donnell in Delaware
The November test: How will insurgents do against the Democrats?
The 2010 primary season came to a close in a dramatic fashion Tuesday night, with a Tea Party-backed GOP insurgent unexpectedly winning in Delaware.
In all, eight Senate and House incumbents have been knocked out in the primary process, with the Tea Party movement the major factor in GOP contests.
Click here to find out more!
The latest victim was claimed in Delaware, where political novice Christine O'Donnell beat nine-term moderate Republican Rep. Mike Castle in a Tea Party versus GOP establishment showdown that's become a theme of the 2010 elections.
Now that the November ballots are pretty much set, the question remains whether Republican insurgent winners like O'Donnell can hold up against Democratic opponents in the fall.
Until a few weeks ago, the Republican establishment expected Delaware to be an easy Senate seat pickup for the party. Castle, a popular politician who also served two terms as governor, seemed like shoo-in for the Senate seat that was held for three decades by Vice President Joe Biden. But after the Sacramento-based Tea Party Express poured money in support of O'Donnell, who lost a Senate bid to Biden in 2008, and Sarah Palin
provided her endorsement, Delaware's Republican Senate primary became a national bellwether, the final pre-midterm test of the Tea Party movement's strength.
While that backing helped defeat Castle 53-47 percent, O'Donnell alienated establishment Republicans, a group whose support she'll need heading into the midterm against the Democratic candidates, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. The Delaware Republican Party has vehemently opposed O'Donnell during the primaries, citing her reportedly shabby personal financial record among other things, and said in a news release Monday that she is "unelectable in the general election." In her victory speech, O'Donnell said "If those same people who fought against me work just as hard for me we will win."
The state GOP has yet to support O'Donnell as the party's winner in the primaries. Still, O'Donnell told various news programs Wednesday morning that, while her campaign will reach out to the Republican establishment, she "is confident we will win" even without the support of the Republican Party.
O'Donnell and Republicans are already butting heads. Former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove told Fox News after the results came in Tuesday night, "this is not a race we're going to be able to win."
O'Donnell's win gives hope to Democrats who worried Castle would easily beat Coons in the midterm election. A Public Policy Polling report released today shows Coons with a 50-34 lead over O'Donnell. But the name recognition and national attention O'Donnell received from her win Tuesday night might help narrow the gap.
Sarah Palin also brought her "mama grizzly" embrace to the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary where she endorsed Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, who narrowly beat lawyer Ovide Lamontagne by less than 2,00 votes out of nearly 140,000. Lamontagne who is backed by Tea Partiers and by conservative South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint , could call for a vote recount. The winner will face Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes in the November race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Judd Gregg.
Elsewhere, the Tea Party movement trumped the establishment in the GOP primary for the New York governor's race, in which millionaire Buffalo developer Carl Paladino beat former congressman and GOP favorite Rick Lazio 63-37 percent. Paladino will face Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the popular former attorney general and son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
In majority-Democratic New York, Cuomo has a double digit lead over Paladino in the polls. Also in New York, forty-year House veteran Charlie Rangel held on to his seat winning more than 50 percent of the primary vote against assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell, despite the 13 House ethics charges against Rangel. And Rep. Carolyn Maloney also beat back a Democratic challenger to hold on to the seat she has held since 1992.
The only remaining primary will be held Sept. 18 in Hawaii.
This year's primaries have knocked out three Senators—Republicans Bob Bennett of Utah and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania—and five House members, Castle, Democrat-turned-Republican Parker Griffith of Alabama, Democrats Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Republican Bob Inglis of South Carolina.
While these races captured the headlines, a majority of voters stuck with most incumbents. In total, 23 Senators and 393 House members ran in this primary season.
US News
The 2010 primary season came to a close in a dramatic fashion Tuesday night, with a Tea Party-backed GOP insurgent unexpectedly winning in Delaware.
In all, eight Senate and House incumbents have been knocked out in the primary process, with the Tea Party movement the major factor in GOP contests.
Click here to find out more!
The latest victim was claimed in Delaware, where political novice Christine O'Donnell beat nine-term moderate Republican Rep. Mike Castle in a Tea Party versus GOP establishment showdown that's become a theme of the 2010 elections.
Now that the November ballots are pretty much set, the question remains whether Republican insurgent winners like O'Donnell can hold up against Democratic opponents in the fall.
Until a few weeks ago, the Republican establishment expected Delaware to be an easy Senate seat pickup for the party. Castle, a popular politician who also served two terms as governor, seemed like shoo-in for the Senate seat that was held for three decades by Vice President Joe Biden. But after the Sacramento-based Tea Party Express poured money in support of O'Donnell, who lost a Senate bid to Biden in 2008, and Sarah Palin
provided her endorsement, Delaware's Republican Senate primary became a national bellwether, the final pre-midterm test of the Tea Party movement's strength.
While that backing helped defeat Castle 53-47 percent, O'Donnell alienated establishment Republicans, a group whose support she'll need heading into the midterm against the Democratic candidates, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. The Delaware Republican Party has vehemently opposed O'Donnell during the primaries, citing her reportedly shabby personal financial record among other things, and said in a news release Monday that she is "unelectable in the general election." In her victory speech, O'Donnell said "If those same people who fought against me work just as hard for me we will win."
The state GOP has yet to support O'Donnell as the party's winner in the primaries. Still, O'Donnell told various news programs Wednesday morning that, while her campaign will reach out to the Republican establishment, she "is confident we will win" even without the support of the Republican Party.
O'Donnell and Republicans are already butting heads. Former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove told Fox News after the results came in Tuesday night, "this is not a race we're going to be able to win."
O'Donnell's win gives hope to Democrats who worried Castle would easily beat Coons in the midterm election. A Public Policy Polling report released today shows Coons with a 50-34 lead over O'Donnell. But the name recognition and national attention O'Donnell received from her win Tuesday night might help narrow the gap.
Sarah Palin also brought her "mama grizzly" embrace to the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary where she endorsed Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, who narrowly beat lawyer Ovide Lamontagne by less than 2,00 votes out of nearly 140,000. Lamontagne who is backed by Tea Partiers and by conservative South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint , could call for a vote recount. The winner will face Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes in the November race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Judd Gregg.
Elsewhere, the Tea Party movement trumped the establishment in the GOP primary for the New York governor's race, in which millionaire Buffalo developer Carl Paladino beat former congressman and GOP favorite Rick Lazio 63-37 percent. Paladino will face Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the popular former attorney general and son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
In majority-Democratic New York, Cuomo has a double digit lead over Paladino in the polls. Also in New York, forty-year House veteran Charlie Rangel held on to his seat winning more than 50 percent of the primary vote against assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell, despite the 13 House ethics charges against Rangel. And Rep. Carolyn Maloney also beat back a Democratic challenger to hold on to the seat she has held since 1992.
The only remaining primary will be held Sept. 18 in Hawaii.
This year's primaries have knocked out three Senators—Republicans Bob Bennett of Utah and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania—and five House members, Castle, Democrat-turned-Republican Parker Griffith of Alabama, Democrats Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Republican Bob Inglis of South Carolina.
While these races captured the headlines, a majority of voters stuck with most incumbents. In total, 23 Senators and 393 House members ran in this primary season.
US News
Kelly Ayotte Is Winner in New Hampshire GOP Primary
CONCORD, N.H. — The state of New Hampshire on Wednesday certified former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte as the winner of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, setting the stage for a possible recount.
Click here to find out more!
Ayotte was endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and won a narrow victory over Ovide Lamontagne, whose conservative credentials and courting of the tea party pulled him close in the final days of the campaign.
Lamontagne has until 5 p.m. to decide whether he'll seek a recount because the margin of victory fell within 1.5 percent of the total votes cast. The secretary of state's office says Ayotte got 53,044 votes and Lamontagne 51,377 — a margin of 1,667 votes in a race with 138,908 total votes cast.
His campaign advisers have said he's still considering whether to seek the recount. One could begin as early as 8 a.m. Thursday and could be done by Saturday, said David Scanlan, the deputy secretary of state.
The winner hopes to take retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg's seat and face Democratic nominee Paul Hodes, who was unopposed.
Ayotte, 42, of Nashua, won the blessing from Palin, who calls her a "Granite Grizzly." Ayotte spent more than $2 million on her anti-Democrat, anti-federal spending campaign. Palin, the former vice presidential nominee, recorded telephone messages to voters that started Sunday, praising Ayotte as "the true conservative" — a mantle Lamontagne had tried to claim as his throughout his campaign.
Lamontagne's two previous election bids were unsuccessful. His late surge was similar to his victory over former U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff for the 1996 GOP gubernatorial nomination, but Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen beat him to capture the first of her three two-year terms as governor. Lamontagne failed in a GOP primary bid in 1992 to unseat Zeliff in the 1st District.
Lamontagne closed fast in the final days of the race, despite spending only $400,000. Lamontagne, 52, counted on conservative groups, not money, to win the nomination.
"It's not how much money you have; it's the message," Lamontagne said Tuesday night.
The Republicans spent more than $9.5 million for the chance to face Hodes, 59, of Concord. Despite being unopposed, Hodes spent $2.5 million to line up support to try to win the seat. The spending totals will rise after final primary campaign finance reports are filed with the Federal Elections Commission. [See who is donating money to Hodes.]
Multimillionaire businessman Bill Binnie, who spent more than $5 million out of his own pocket pushing his jobs agenda, received 19,503 votes, and conceded along with millionaire businessman Jim Bender, who got 12,609 votes.
Hodes said Tuesday night that the Republican agenda is "extreme, radical and right wing." He said Republicans would take the country backward into the hole from which the nation is struggling to dig out.
"I'm running for the people of New Hampshire. I don't have to run against anyone," Hodes said.
US News
Click here to find out more!
Ayotte was endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and won a narrow victory over Ovide Lamontagne, whose conservative credentials and courting of the tea party pulled him close in the final days of the campaign.
Lamontagne has until 5 p.m. to decide whether he'll seek a recount because the margin of victory fell within 1.5 percent of the total votes cast. The secretary of state's office says Ayotte got 53,044 votes and Lamontagne 51,377 — a margin of 1,667 votes in a race with 138,908 total votes cast.
His campaign advisers have said he's still considering whether to seek the recount. One could begin as early as 8 a.m. Thursday and could be done by Saturday, said David Scanlan, the deputy secretary of state.
The winner hopes to take retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg's seat and face Democratic nominee Paul Hodes, who was unopposed.
Ayotte, 42, of Nashua, won the blessing from Palin, who calls her a "Granite Grizzly." Ayotte spent more than $2 million on her anti-Democrat, anti-federal spending campaign. Palin, the former vice presidential nominee, recorded telephone messages to voters that started Sunday, praising Ayotte as "the true conservative" — a mantle Lamontagne had tried to claim as his throughout his campaign.
Lamontagne's two previous election bids were unsuccessful. His late surge was similar to his victory over former U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff for the 1996 GOP gubernatorial nomination, but Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen beat him to capture the first of her three two-year terms as governor. Lamontagne failed in a GOP primary bid in 1992 to unseat Zeliff in the 1st District.
Lamontagne closed fast in the final days of the race, despite spending only $400,000. Lamontagne, 52, counted on conservative groups, not money, to win the nomination.
"It's not how much money you have; it's the message," Lamontagne said Tuesday night.
The Republicans spent more than $9.5 million for the chance to face Hodes, 59, of Concord. Despite being unopposed, Hodes spent $2.5 million to line up support to try to win the seat. The spending totals will rise after final primary campaign finance reports are filed with the Federal Elections Commission. [See who is donating money to Hodes.]
Multimillionaire businessman Bill Binnie, who spent more than $5 million out of his own pocket pushing his jobs agenda, received 19,503 votes, and conceded along with millionaire businessman Jim Bender, who got 12,609 votes.
Hodes said Tuesday night that the Republican agenda is "extreme, radical and right wing." He said Republicans would take the country backward into the hole from which the nation is struggling to dig out.
"I'm running for the people of New Hampshire. I don't have to run against anyone," Hodes said.
US News
North Korean Succession Plans Are Shrouded in Mystery
Experts say ailing dictator Kim Jong Il is positioning his youngest son to rule
Living up to its reputation as the world's most secretive and insular state, North Korea is expected to host a secret congress of the country's ruling Communist Party this month, the first such conclave since 1966 and one that experts believe is intended to help usher in a successor to dictator Kim Jong Il. Indeed, some experts say that the meeting itself is already underway.
Click here to find out more!
North Korea's state-run media have been silent on the logistics, but foreign experts anticipate that the dictator's third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, will be named to an important government post, a key step toward assuming the reins of the state. The media have said that elections to the country's Politburo are expected this month.
Meanwhile, American diplomats arrived in Beijing today for talks with Chinese officials on how to convince the reclusive state to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
The succession process in North Korea has been ramping up slowly for at least the past 18 months, and could yet be challenged by powerful figures in the military. A dynastic handoff to the younger Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, would not be completed until the passing of his father, known throughout the country as the "Dear Leader." Some Korea-watchers are hopeful that the son known in the North as the "Brilliant Comrade," who was educated for a time in a Swiss boarding school, will be more receptive to reform, but the regime is built on a base of repression and corruption and the gulf is wide between the "hermit kingdom" and the outside world.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang, in particular, have grown increasingly sour over a series of issues, including the stalled six-party talks to end the North's nuclear weapons program; the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, blamed on commandos from the North; and a series of North Korean missile tests viewed as provocative. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley placed the onus for improving relations squarely on Kim's regime. "It's North Korea that needs to do what it can to create a better environment for progress," he said last week.
The North Koreans, meanwhile, have reacted angrily to a series of U.S.-South Korean naval exercises, the resumption of anti-regime propaganda broadcasts into North Korea, and spy plane flights targeting the North. And last month, the Obama administration slapped a series of further sanctions on key North Korean individuals and entities, aimed particularly at those said to be involved with nuclear weapons development and illicit activities that enrich Kim and the ruling elite, such as arms dealing, drug smuggling, and trading in counterfeit $100 bills.
Washington officials worry that succession maneuvering will prompt more dangerous muscle-flexing by Pyongyang, perhaps even another nuclear test, intended to reassure the North's powerful military and show a strong face to the outside world at a sensitive time.
Kim Jong Il, who is believed to be in poor health and may have suffered a stroke in 2008, visited China twice in the past four months, fueling speculation about talks with Beijing about his succession. China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main political ally, is vital to the regime's survival. The younger Kim will need Beijing's backing to successfully fill his father's shoes.
To consolidate his inheritance, Kim Jong Un will have to weigh outside pressure for economic and political change against the internal demands from members of the military and political elite to protect their privileges in a nation where millions suffer from hunger and privation.
US News
Living up to its reputation as the world's most secretive and insular state, North Korea is expected to host a secret congress of the country's ruling Communist Party this month, the first such conclave since 1966 and one that experts believe is intended to help usher in a successor to dictator Kim Jong Il. Indeed, some experts say that the meeting itself is already underway.
Click here to find out more!
North Korea's state-run media have been silent on the logistics, but foreign experts anticipate that the dictator's third and youngest son, Kim Jong Un, will be named to an important government post, a key step toward assuming the reins of the state. The media have said that elections to the country's Politburo are expected this month.
Meanwhile, American diplomats arrived in Beijing today for talks with Chinese officials on how to convince the reclusive state to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
The succession process in North Korea has been ramping up slowly for at least the past 18 months, and could yet be challenged by powerful figures in the military. A dynastic handoff to the younger Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, would not be completed until the passing of his father, known throughout the country as the "Dear Leader." Some Korea-watchers are hopeful that the son known in the North as the "Brilliant Comrade," who was educated for a time in a Swiss boarding school, will be more receptive to reform, but the regime is built on a base of repression and corruption and the gulf is wide between the "hermit kingdom" and the outside world.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang, in particular, have grown increasingly sour over a series of issues, including the stalled six-party talks to end the North's nuclear weapons program; the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, blamed on commandos from the North; and a series of North Korean missile tests viewed as provocative. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley placed the onus for improving relations squarely on Kim's regime. "It's North Korea that needs to do what it can to create a better environment for progress," he said last week.
The North Koreans, meanwhile, have reacted angrily to a series of U.S.-South Korean naval exercises, the resumption of anti-regime propaganda broadcasts into North Korea, and spy plane flights targeting the North. And last month, the Obama administration slapped a series of further sanctions on key North Korean individuals and entities, aimed particularly at those said to be involved with nuclear weapons development and illicit activities that enrich Kim and the ruling elite, such as arms dealing, drug smuggling, and trading in counterfeit $100 bills.
Washington officials worry that succession maneuvering will prompt more dangerous muscle-flexing by Pyongyang, perhaps even another nuclear test, intended to reassure the North's powerful military and show a strong face to the outside world at a sensitive time.
Kim Jong Il, who is believed to be in poor health and may have suffered a stroke in 2008, visited China twice in the past four months, fueling speculation about talks with Beijing about his succession. China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main political ally, is vital to the regime's survival. The younger Kim will need Beijing's backing to successfully fill his father's shoes.
To consolidate his inheritance, Kim Jong Un will have to weigh outside pressure for economic and political change against the internal demands from members of the military and political elite to protect their privileges in a nation where millions suffer from hunger and privation.
US News
D.C. Voters Oust Adrian Fenty in Democratic Primary
WASHINGTON — The nation's capital will have a new mayor after voters Tuesday ousted Adrian Fenty, a backer of education reform who some said had become out of touch.
Fenty lost the city's Democratic primary to District of Columbia Council Chairman Vincent Gray just four years after sweeping into office with unprecedented support. The victory virtually assures that Gray will be the city's next mayor. He faces no GOP competition in November and the city is overwhelmingly Democratic. Fenty has said he will not be a write-in candidate.
Click here to find out more!
Early Wednesday, with 90 percent of precincts reporting, Gray had 59,285 votes or 53 percent, compared with 50,850 votes for Fenty, or 46 percent.
"Now it's time for us to look forward, now we can work to unite our great city so that every resident has not only a voice, but has a role in facing the challenges we have ahead," Gray said during a speech early Wednesday at the Washington Court Hotel near Union Station, where he celebrated with supporters.
Fenty spokesman Sean Madigan said the mayor conceded and would call Gray. Earlier, Fenty was still waiting for the count but said he was "fully prepared to take whatever decision the voters have."
Fenty, 39, became the city's youngest-ever mayor when he was elected in 2006, but lost favor with voters. Some criticized him for his management style, calling him arrogant and not inclusive.
Polls showed that Fenty, who is biracial, was particularly unpopular with black voters, who make up approximately half of the city's 600,000 residents. Voting Tuesday had a strong racial cast.
Fenty won in largely white areas of the city while voters in the virtually all black east and southeast strongly backed Gray, 69, who is black.
Another factor was Fenty's choice of schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee. Rhee fired hundreds of school employees, including teachers, but test scores went up and Fenty unfailingly backed her. Many residents said their choice came down to what was happening in the city's schools.
Julie Somers, 39, a mother of a 3-year-old and a city resident for more than a decade, voted for Fenty.
"I love Michelle Rhee," Somers said after voting at a high school blocks from the U.S. Capitol. "For me, this is about education, education, education. I feel like schools are finally heading in the right direction."
Elias Prince, 93, disagreed, saying Rhee was a main reason he voted for Gray.
"She jumped up and fired all these teachers, and I don't know if she knows anything about schools, D.C. schools, at least," Prince said.
Gray has not indicated whether he would keep Rhee, but has said he would sit down with her to see if the two of them could work together.
"Make no mistake: school reform will move forward in a Gray administration," Gray said early Wednesday.
He urged supporters to keep up their enthusiasm through the November general election.
"Remember we still have one more election to go," Gray said. "Don't put away those walking shoes."
"Together, we'll help bring together all the people of the District of Columbia," Gray said.
Fenty's loss was not a surprise. Gray had been leading in recent polls, and the mayor called himself an underdog. But both sides had said turnout would be important. Election officials had estimated turnout would be about 55 percent, compared with 34 percent four years ago.
Gray, who was elected to the Council in 2004 and elected chairman in 2006, won despite raising much less money than Fenty. Fenty, who was himself elected to the council in 2000 and served until being elected mayor in 2006, had raised about $4.9 million for his re-election, while Gray raised about $1.7 million.
US News
Fenty lost the city's Democratic primary to District of Columbia Council Chairman Vincent Gray just four years after sweeping into office with unprecedented support. The victory virtually assures that Gray will be the city's next mayor. He faces no GOP competition in November and the city is overwhelmingly Democratic. Fenty has said he will not be a write-in candidate.
Click here to find out more!
Early Wednesday, with 90 percent of precincts reporting, Gray had 59,285 votes or 53 percent, compared with 50,850 votes for Fenty, or 46 percent.
"Now it's time for us to look forward, now we can work to unite our great city so that every resident has not only a voice, but has a role in facing the challenges we have ahead," Gray said during a speech early Wednesday at the Washington Court Hotel near Union Station, where he celebrated with supporters.
Fenty spokesman Sean Madigan said the mayor conceded and would call Gray. Earlier, Fenty was still waiting for the count but said he was "fully prepared to take whatever decision the voters have."
Fenty, 39, became the city's youngest-ever mayor when he was elected in 2006, but lost favor with voters. Some criticized him for his management style, calling him arrogant and not inclusive.
Polls showed that Fenty, who is biracial, was particularly unpopular with black voters, who make up approximately half of the city's 600,000 residents. Voting Tuesday had a strong racial cast.
Fenty won in largely white areas of the city while voters in the virtually all black east and southeast strongly backed Gray, 69, who is black.
Another factor was Fenty's choice of schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee. Rhee fired hundreds of school employees, including teachers, but test scores went up and Fenty unfailingly backed her. Many residents said their choice came down to what was happening in the city's schools.
Julie Somers, 39, a mother of a 3-year-old and a city resident for more than a decade, voted for Fenty.
"I love Michelle Rhee," Somers said after voting at a high school blocks from the U.S. Capitol. "For me, this is about education, education, education. I feel like schools are finally heading in the right direction."
Elias Prince, 93, disagreed, saying Rhee was a main reason he voted for Gray.
"She jumped up and fired all these teachers, and I don't know if she knows anything about schools, D.C. schools, at least," Prince said.
Gray has not indicated whether he would keep Rhee, but has said he would sit down with her to see if the two of them could work together.
"Make no mistake: school reform will move forward in a Gray administration," Gray said early Wednesday.
He urged supporters to keep up their enthusiasm through the November general election.
"Remember we still have one more election to go," Gray said. "Don't put away those walking shoes."
"Together, we'll help bring together all the people of the District of Columbia," Gray said.
Fenty's loss was not a surprise. Gray had been leading in recent polls, and the mayor called himself an underdog. But both sides had said turnout would be important. Election officials had estimated turnout would be about 55 percent, compared with 34 percent four years ago.
Gray, who was elected to the Council in 2004 and elected chairman in 2006, won despite raising much less money than Fenty. Fenty, who was himself elected to the council in 2000 and served until being elected mayor in 2006, had raised about $4.9 million for his re-election, while Gray raised about $1.7 million.
US News
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