For nearly 40 years, since Washington was allowed to administer itself by using popular elections, the six people who have led the nations capital have been African-Americans.
With two white men, Tom Wells and Jack Evans, another council member, running for the office in 2014, that could change.
Other cities -- like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta and Detroit -- have experienced similar demographic changes that have shaped electoral politics: white flight to the suburbs in the last century and white residents returning to gentrifying areas of inner cities in this century.
In Detroit, for example, the transition meant for four decades a black mayor led the city. That changed in November when Detroit residents elected Mike Duggan to become the citys first white mayor in more than 40 years.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/27/politics/washington-dc-white-mayor/
With two white men, Tom Wells and Jack Evans, another council member, running for the office in 2014, that could change.
Other cities -- like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta and Detroit -- have experienced similar demographic changes that have shaped electoral politics: white flight to the suburbs in the last century and white residents returning to gentrifying areas of inner cities in this century.
In Detroit, for example, the transition meant for four decades a black mayor led the city. That changed in November when Detroit residents elected Mike Duggan to become the citys first white mayor in more than 40 years.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/27/politics/washington-dc-white-mayor/