Ex-Mayor Barry Battles 2 Others in D.C. Comeback Bid

District of Columbia Council members Marion Barry and John Ray on Saturday formally began their battle for the mayor’s office, assailing incumbent Sharon Pratt Kelly for failing to stem the city’s decline.

Former mayor Barry stepped onto the stage at Coolidge High School in a bid to complete a remarkable political comeback by reclaiming the office he left in disgrace after his 1990 conviction for drug possession.

Arrested and tried during the last year of his 12 years as mayor, he served a prison term and re-entered politics to win election to the council 18 months ago.

Barry told supporters that his experiences have made him better qualified to lead the city.

“Who better to lead than someone who has faced the tumultuous fires of failures, disappointment, hurt, chastening, recovery, restoration, redemption?” he asked. “I know during the difficult times of my valley experience, I hurt and disappointed a lot of people, but none more than myself.

“Who better to say to our young people: ‘Yes, you can fall down. You can be put down or you might even take yourself down, but what is more important is that you get up.’ Look at me. I got up.”

Ray served notice that he will not watch Barry return without a fight. “I’m not going to allow Marion Barry to hustle the city again,” he said.

This year’s mayoral race is the sixth since the 1974 Home Rule Charter let D.C. residents elect their own chief executive.