Adrian Malik Fenty (born December 6, 1970) was the sixth, and youngest Mayor of the District of Columbia. He was a national leader in urban education reform. He lost his re-election bid in the 2010 Democratic primary to Vincent C. Gray, who went on to win the general election for mayor.
Early life, education, and family
Fenty grew up in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and graduated from Mackin Catholic High School. As a teenager, he worked at Swenson's Ice Cream next to the Uptown Theatre.
Fenty's mother is white, and his father is African-American. Adrian Fenty is the middle child of three boys—older brother Shawn, a bicycle expert, and younger brother Jess. Their parents are runners and own a Fleet Feet athletic shoe store in the D.C. neighborhood of Adams Morgan. Adrian has run in the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run each year since 2004, improving his finishing time from 1:17:22 in 2005 to 1:02:59 in 2009.
Fenty earned a B.A. in English and Economics at Oberlin College and a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
In 1997, Fenty and lawyer Michelle Cross eloped. Michelle Cross Fenty works for the Inter-American Development Bank. They have three children: twins Matthew and Andrew (b. 2000) and Aerin Alexandra (b. 2008).
Entry into politics and service on D.C. Council
Fenty was an intern for Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH), Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-MA) before becoming involved in local politics. In addition to serving as an aide to Councilmember Kevin P. Chavous, he was elected as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in ANC 4C and was president of the 16th Street Neighborhood Civic Association.
In 2000, Fenty won a seat on the D.C. Council. Fenty ran against long-time Ward 4 Councilmember Charlene Drew Jarvis. Jarvis was well known and a heavy favorite, but Fenty campaigned hard. He pursued an aggressive door-to-door strategy and put up large numbers of green yard signs. Fenty was elected to the Council seat by a 57–43 percent margin. Unopposed in both the primary and general elections in 2004, Fenty was reelected for a second term.
As a Council member, Fenty worked on constituent services. He opposed public funding for a new baseball stadium. He proposed funding a $1 billion capital improvement program for public schools, which the Council subsequently passed in an altered form. He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.
While major, Fenty used three BlackBerry devices. One BlackBerry directly connected him to Police Chief Cathy Lanier while the latter two were for business and personal matters.
2006 Mayoral Campaign
Fenty formally announced his decision to campaign for mayor of the District of Columbia on June 1, 2005. In the fall of 2005, then-mayor Anthony A. Williams made the widely anticipated announcement that he would not seek re-election, and then-Council Chair Linda Cropp announced she would be a candidate for Mayor. Other candidates included businesswoman Marie Johns, then-Council member Vincent Orange, and lobbyist Michael A. Brown. Brown dropped out of the race in September 2006.
Fenty ran on a platform of bringing a more energetic and hands-on approach to district government. Cropp trumpeted her 25 years of experience in district government and her desire to continue the progress made by Anthony Williams, who endorsed her candidacy. The race was widely viewed as neck-and-neck through the spring of 2006. Both candidates raised significant and nearly equal amounts of money –roughly $1.75 million through June 10, 2006 –and neither gained any significant advantage from the numerous debates and forums.