Jack Evans Raises $40,000 on Nantucket for Mayoral Bid

In the dregs of summer, where do DC’s mayoral candidates go looking to raise money for their campaigns? For Jack Evans, the answer is Nantucket, where earlier this month he hauled in about $40,000 at an event that featured former DC mayor Tony Williams.

The Washington Post reports that Evans, who represents Ward 2 on the DC Council, collected the hefty sum at an August 9 fundraiser hosted by Max Berry, a Georgetown-based attorney and big Democratic Party donor. Berry told the Post that attendees included other Washington-area residents who were already vacationing on the Massachusetts island getaway, including Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis.

Williams, according to the Post, stopped short of offering an outright endorsement, but called Evans a “good person” who has done much to spur DC’s recent economic development. That’s been the major theme of Evans’s campaign, which launched June 8 outside Le Diplomate, a Logan Circle bistro that has been swarming with business since it opened in April.

Of the five candidates currently running in the Democratic primary in next year’s mayoral election, Evans finished had the second-largest fundraising total through July 31 with about $377,000. Ward 4 Council member Muriel Bowser led all candidates with about $465,000.

As for the Nantucket host, Berry last gave to Evans in 2008, donating $500 to his council re-election effort that year, according to DC campaign finance records. As for his giving in mayoral races, Berry’s records show that he spreads things around. While he gave then-mayor Adrian Fenty $3,000 in the early stages of the 2010 election, he later gave $2,000 to Vince Gray.

Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.