Barry Rejects Mayor Race, Will Run for City Council : Politics: D.C. official decides that seeking a fourth term in the top post would be divisive because of his drug conviction.

Mayor Marion Barry announced Tuesday that he will be a candidate for a seat on the City Council, a position he held for four years before serving three terms as the city’s mayor.

Barry, convicted Friday in U.S. District Court of cocaine possession, said in a statement released by his campaign manager that he had considered seeking a fourth term as mayor but determined it would be too divisive after his 10-week trial.

Barry, a lifelong Democrat, switched his political affiliation Monday to independent in order to facilitate a bid for some elected office in the Nov. 6 general election, but he said at the time that he had not decided which office to seek.

“After prayerful consideration and discussions with my family and a few friends, I have decided to run for an at-large seat on the City Council,” Barry said Tuesday in the statement released by Anita Bonds. “I believe that in this position I can achieve my goal of continuing to make a contribution to the political life of this city.”

Barry, a former civil rights leader and one of the nation’s most prominent black politicians, said he had ruled out another bid for mayor because of the scars from his trial.

“Even though polls have shown that I could win (a fourth term as mayor) by running as an independent and fracturing the vote between the major parties, I have rejected this idea,” Barry said. “Such a move would further polarize attitudes and further alienate certain segments of the population from each other. I want us all to heal.”

Bonds picked up nominating petitions from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics on Tuesday. She said Barry would begin actively campaigning after the Sept. 11 primaries.

Barry has until Aug. 29 to gather the 3,000 signatures from registered voters that are needed for him to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The mayor faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine under his single misdemeanor conviction. Under city law, he would be precluded from holding office only if jailed after a felony conviction.

Barry, who was convicted of one cocaine possession charge and acquitted of a second, still could face retrial on 12 counts, including three felony perjury charges, on which the jury was deadlocked.