Two Democratic candidates for D.C.’s nonvoting congressional delegate seat will no longer run in the June 4 primary. They’ve instead turned to the November general election to extend their campaign and reach a wider voter base.
Former D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown and grassroots activist Kymone Freeman, both of whom are attempting to unseat longtime incumbent D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), recently changed their party affiliation.
Brown is running as an independent, and Freeman, a D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate.
Brown’s decision to run in the general election followed an announcement he made on March 6 about suspending his primary campaign. He told The Informer that inquiries from supporters in the aftermath of the announcement inspired him to revive his campaign.
Members of Brown’s campaign team also cited high voter turnout, and the greater likelihood of victory, during an election year where former President Donald J. Trump (R) is appearing on the ballot against President Joe Biden (D).
Brown said that for weeks his team has been tapping into a network of business magnates, labor leaders, and advocates to amass support. While he expressed respect for Del. Norton, Brown described himself as the best person to rebuff Republican intrusion on local affairs and attract untapped federal dollars to fund local programs.
“I understand D.C.’s legislative body, which my opponents may not,” Brown said, telling The Informer that his independent affiliation shouldn’t call his Democratic affiliation into question. “The D.C. Council and our self-governance link with Capitol Hill. The business and labor communities can link with us. The advocacy community could absolutely play a role in helping us fight for our autonomy.”
He also said it’s integral for Washingtonians to understand why having a congressional representative is important to their lives and pushing for a vote in the House is key.
“It’s about making sure everyday residents understand our plight and why a House vote is so important. Keeping businesses and residents in the city is so important because the tax base keeps the programs here that keep young people safe and out of trouble,” Brown said.
The winner in the June 4 Democratic primary will go on to face Brown, Freeman, and Myrtle Patricia Alexander, the Republican D.C. delegate candidate.
Norton, a native Washingtonian and civil rights veteran, has represented the District in the House since 1991. Her only opponent in the 2024 Democratic primary is Kelly “Mikel” Williams, a public servant with decades of experience in federal and local government affairs.
For months, Norton has faced criticism for what many anti-Zionist activists describe as her refusal to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. That refusal, Freeman told campaign supporters in January, inspired his decision to run against her.
While Freeman launched his campaign as a Democratic candidate, he told The Informer that he changed his party affiliation upon seeing the growing crowd of Democratic contenders. He expressed his concern that the vote would be split among Norton’s challengers in the primary, allowing Norton an automatic victory.
Freeman, a vocal supporter of ranked-choice voting, which will appear on the ballot this fall via Initiative 83, went on to say that he didn’t want to exhaust resources on a primary contest that reaffirms the Democratic Party’s stranglehold on District politics.
The general election, he said, serves as a better platform to reach all District voters. He also described it as an opportunity to challenge who he described as the District’s political elite that’s under the control of the Federal City Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that weighs in on local social, economic and political affairs.
“Most of our Black politicians are moderates and gatekeepers for the status quo,” Freeman said, referencing an op-ed that movement lawyer Olayemi Olurin wrote in Essence. “These are things we must educate the public about.”
On the evening of April 4, Freeman will commemorate the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a campaign launch event with Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-MC MuMu Fresh. The event will be held at Legacy DC’s event space on 14th Street in Northwest, the same block that Black Washingtonians sparked riots in 1968 upon learning about King’s death.
Freeman said that Norton, the Bowser administration, D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), and others who support what he described as draconian anti-crime laws, represent the antithesis of King’s anti-war, anti-poverty message.
Clinching the D.C. delegate seat, he told The Informer, would allow him to challenge the District political establishment to accept King’s call for a “revolution of values.”
“We must raise our voice in Congress and use that platform to point out the hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy, national policy and local policy and how they’re interconnected,” Freeman said. “And we need to review where we go from here. Everything we’ve done has gotten us the same results.”
The Informer was unsuccessful in reaching Norton for comment.
