Pannell withdraws candidacy for Ward 8 Council seat

Two days after he said he would run as a write-in candidate to challenge Ward 8 DC Council member Trayon White (D), who was arrested earlier this month by the FBI on a bribery charge, longtime gay and Ward 8 community activist Phil Pannell withdrew his candidacy on Aug. 23 and announced his support for another candidate.

According to the Washington Informer newspaper, Pannell said he is now backing Ward 8 political activist and former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Markus Batchelor, who ran against White in the Democratic primary earlier this year before dropping out of that race.

When he first announced his write-in candidacy to challenge White, Pannell said he would withdraw from the race if another credible candidate entered the race. On Aug. 23, after learning that Batchelor, 31, had announced his write-in candidacy, Pannell said he was stepping aside, the Washington Informer reports.

The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately reach Pannell and Batchelor for comment.

Batchelor has expressed support for LGBTQ rights in his past political involvements.

Like a number of other Ward 8 community activists, Pannell has called for White to resign. White and his Council staff have declined repeated requests by the news media for comment regarding the arrest and his plans going forward.

In an arrest affidavit filed in federal court, prosecutors allege that White accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cash payments and agreed to receive a total of at least $156,000 from a business owner in exchange for urging city officials to approve a multi-million-dollar contract for the owner’s business The FBI has yet to publicly identify either the owner or the business.

Under DC election rules, if White does not drop out of the race before Sept. 12 his name will remain on the November election ballot for the Ward 8 Council seat. Currently, the only other candidate on the ballot for the Ward 8 Council seat is Republican Nate Derenge.

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