Dear Friend,
Thank you!
Yesterday, the recall campaign announced it had failed to collect enough signatures in their effort to overturn your most recent Ward 6 election.
When the recall began, I chose to fight it and defend our record of service, leadership, and delivering for our community - whether that was improving public safety, rebuilding our schools, fixing our public transit system, and much more. I asked you to oppose the recall effort and “decline to sign” the petition. People listened. More than 90% of Ward 6 voters refused to sign.
After six months, well over one hundred thousand dollars spent, and an open campaign finance investigation into the recall campaign’s illegal coordination with the DC Republican Party and a SuperPAC, they’re significantly short of the thousands of valid signatures needed to trigger a costly and wasteful recall election. They’ve run out of time, and the recall effort is now over. Additional reporting on the failure over at Capitol Hill Corner.
To those of you who donated, put up a yard sign, hosted or attended a meet and greet, spoke up on social media or on a neighborhood listserv, or talked with neighbors, thank you for your trust, for your help, and for your support.
The recall campaign tried to convince Ward 6 residents that DC doesn’t take public safety seriously. I don’t believe their effort fell flat because Ward 6 residents don’t care about or don’t prioritize public safety. Quite the opposite.
Ward 6 knows that improving safety in our community has to be our top priority, and it will continue to be mine. And Ward 6 supports the approach I’ve pushed for and consistently led on: smart solutions to crime and violence that ensure both accountability for people who commit harm and strategies to prevent crime from happening in the first place.
Ultimately, the recall organizers failed to appreciate that Ward 6 residents are thoughtful people looking for real solutions to our toughest problems, and they don’t respond to the fear and division we see play out every day on the national stage. My neighbors also know that real problem solvers roll up their sleeves, they lead boldly and by lifting others up, and they try to build community instead of dividing it. That’s the Ward 6 I’m proud to call home and the one I’m honored to have represented for a decade.
I also know that the recall supporters who were actually Ward 6 residents are still my constituents and our neighbors, and I’d ask that you join me in building bridges across our differences. I will continue to represent everyone in Ward 6, regardless of their political affiliation, identity, or policy perspectives. Every day, my team and I help get your trash picked up, take on that problem property on your block, work with you to make your street safer, develop legislation to solve tough problems, and build safer neighborhoods with residents impacted by crime - and we do this because we all want to make Ward 6 a great place to call home. I truly believe we are Neighbors United for Ward 6.
With the recall now behind us, I’m motivated by what lies ahead. We have serious challenges to meet. We continue to have a broken 911 system that needs fixing, a WMATA funding crisis that threatens our region, working families struggling to make ends meet, dangerous drivers on our roads who aren’t facing accountability for their actions, and a gun violence epidemic at home and nationwide that we have to bring much more urgency to solving. With your partnership, I’m confident that we can meet these challenges head on.
Sincerely,
Charles Allen
