GGWash endorses Salim Adofo for the Ward 8 DC Council seat. Photo courtesy of the candidate's campaign.

Greater Greater Washington is endorsing Salim Adofo in the 2024 DC Ward 8 Councilmember Democratic primary.

We’ve lent our weight to incumbent councilmember Trayon White before, when we endorsed both him and Mike Austin for the Ward 8 seat in 2020. White did not respond to our questionnaire this year; neither did his other challenger, Rahman Branch. Former contender Markus Batchelor, who we’ve previously endorsed for an ANC seat, dropped out of the Ward 8 race in March 2024.

Adofo’s responses to GGWash’s questionnaire show an unevenness on our priorities. He’s willing to allow the District Department of Transportation to reallocate street space for bus lanes—especially important given that over 40% of Ward 8 residents don’t own cars—even if he’d prefer that transit be fare-free rather than frequent. Unfortunately, like White, he’s rigidly opposed to bike lanes, despite the fact that they make streets safer for all road users.

Adofo also supports public funding for privately owned sports stadiums in the District, a costly investment shown time and again to have limited economic impact. Though he’s opposed to road pricing, Adofo’s suggestions to compel the executive to release a long-suppressed report on how a road pricing program might work—“I would submit a request for the documents via the Freedom of Information Act, and submit a request to the Office of Attorney General”—are more strategic than those of most other candidates, and suggest an appetite to wield the council’s oversight powers.

We’re glad Adofo expresses interest in economically integrating neighborhoods, and like that he supports the District taking a more proactive role using its land to develop more housing, and more affordable housing. However, we were disappointed that he favors ADUs over other means to increase housing production and brought up tiny homes as a solution for low-income residents and residents experiencing homelessness. ADUs and tiny homes are insufficient to meet the scale of any city’s housing shortage, and emphasizing them demonstrates only a surface-level engagement with housing policy.

Ward 8 residents, however, deserve better than White, whose behavior has repeatedly attracted more media attention than his legislative work, and who is evidently mismanaging campaign funds. There’s enough for us in Adofo’s stances on housing production, affordable housing, reducing trips by car, increasing trips by transit, and land-use policies for us to feel that he’ll engage constructively on those matters, and represent a marked improvement on the incumbent. We’re glad that White has a serious challenger in Adofo, and are excited to endorse him.

For more information about how we’re making endorsements in the District in 2024, see our 2024 endorsements process post. On our 2024 Elections Hub, you’ll find information about GGWash’s political work this year, including resources about voting and candidates, candidates’ responses to our questionnaires, our endorsements, and how you can help our endorsed candidates win their elections. Access the hub anytime from the “2024 Elections” link in the upper right corner of our homepage.

Distinctly political work, like our endorsements process, is not funded by grants. We are only able to make endorsements with support from individual donors. If you value our endorsements resources, consider a contribution, of any amount, to support us in 2024 and beyond. You can do so here.