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Washington, D.C. mayoral election, 1978

Washington, D.C.
mayoral election, 1978
Washington, D.C.
← 1974 November 7, 1978 1982 →
  Marion Barry, 1996 in Washington, D.C (cropped).jpg No image.svg
Nominee Marion Barry Arthur Fletcher
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 68,354 27,366
Percentage 70.2% 28.1%

Mayor before election

Walter Washington
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Marion Barry
Democratic


Walter Washington
Democratic

Marion Barry
Democratic

The 1978 election for Washington, D.C. mayor was the second mayoral election under DC Home Rule. The Democratic primary election (the most important contest in the DC mayoral race, as 90% of the District's voters were registered Democrats) took place on Tuesday, September 12, with At-Large Councilman Marion Barry defeating incumbent mayor Walter E. Washington and Council Chair Sterling Tucker to become the Democratic nominee for Mayor. Barry defeated Republican nominee Arthur Fletcher and two marginal candidates in the general election on November 7, 1978.

Walter Washington had been the last appointed head of the city, serving as Mayor-Commissioner under President Lyndon Johnson, before being elected DC's first home rule mayor. By 1978, though he still had the support of the city's unions, Washington was largely seen as a caretaker mayor who served to transition the city from federal oversight to local independence. Washington had appointed white politicians to his high-level administration positions, alienating the black majority who felt that blacks should run the city, and his position as a Johnson appointee raised suspicions that he was too closely tied to the city's former federal custodians.

DC Council Chair Sterling Tucker was the early favorite in the race. Like Washington, Tucker had been in Johnson's appointed DC government, the president's choice for council chair in 1967; previously he had been head of the DC chapter of the Urban League and was seen as a moderate crusader for civil rights. Tucker had the support of the city's black ministers, one of the most influential political blocs, and the business community.


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