| Kenyan McDuffie | |
| Office: | Member of the Council of the District of Columbia from the at-large district |
| Term Start: | January 2, 2023 |
| Predecessor: | Elissa Silverman |
| Office1: | Member of the Council of the District of Columbia from Ward 5 |
| Term Start1: | May 30, 2012 |
| Term End1: | January 2, 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | Harry Thomas Jr. |
| Successor1: | Zachary Parker |
| Party: | Democratic (before 2022) Independent (2022–present) |
| Education: | University of the District of Columbia Howard University (BA) University of Maryland, Baltimore (JD) |
Kenyan R. McDuffie (born c. 1975) is an American lawyer and independent politician in Washington, D.C.[1] He is an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia since 2023, after previously representing Ward 5 from 2012 to 2023.
McDuffie grew up in Stronghold, a neighborhood in Ward 5 in Washington, D.C.[2] After graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School, he sold ice cream at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and briefly attended the University of the District of Columbia.[3] He later worked for the United States Postal Service, delivering mail in the Friendship Heights and Spring Valley neighborhoods.[3]
After four years with the Postal Service, McDuffie enrolled in the University of the District of Columbia before graduating from Howard University summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in political science and community development[4] in 2002.[5] He received a juris doctor from University of Maryland School of Law[6] in 2006. At the University of Maryland School of Law, he served as an Associate Editor of The University of Maryland Journal of Race, Religion, Gender, and Class, and research assistant to then-Professor Tom Perez.[5]
Following his graduation, McDuffie was hired by Prince George's County, Maryland, first working as a law clerk for an Associate Judge on the 7th Judicial Circuit of Maryland and later as an assistant state's attorney where he prosecuted misdemeanor and felony cases in District Court and on appeal in Circuit Court.[6] McDuffie later worked for Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton in both her local constituent services office and Capitol Hill office, where he drafted legislation.[7] In 2008, he served as a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he conducted investigations and managed complex cases throughout the United States regarding enforcement of key federal civil rights statutes, including defending the rights of the mentally ill. During his tenure at DOJ, he worked on cases to reform the policies and procedures of police departments.[2] [6] In 2010, McDuffie became a policy advisor to Public Safety and Justice Deputy Mayor Paul Quander,[6] [8] serving as a liaison to public safety agencies.[9] He has also served as president of the Stronghold Civic Association.[10]
In February 2010, McDuffie resigned from his position in the mayor's administration[11] and declared his candidacy to represent Ward 5 on the Council of the District of Columbia.[2] McDuffie supported expanding employment opportunities and tackling HIV.[7] He criticized incumbent Harry Thomas Jr. for being reactive rather than proactive.[7] During his campaign, McDuffie stressed several urgent problems in the ward, including lack of quality education, lack of effective job-training programs, lack of affordable housing, and a need for more services for senior citizens.[12] Thomas won the Democratic Party primary election[13] and went on to win the general election as well.[14]
In January 2012, Thomas resigned from the Council and pleaded guilty to two federal crimes: theft and filing three years of false tax returns.[15] McDuffie entered the special election to fill the vacant Ward 5 seat.[16]
The District's firefighter union, the Service Employees International Union Maryland and DC State Council, National Nurses United union, Local 25 Hospitality Workers' Union, AFL-CIO, DC Latino Caucus, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club and Councilmember Tommy Wells[17] endorsed McDuffie's candidacy.[17] [18] [19] [20]
McDuffie won the special election,[21] receiving 43 percent of the votes.[22]
McDuffie ran for re-election in the 2014 election[23] and won the primary against Kathy Henderson, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Carver Langston;[24] and Carolyn C. Steptoe, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Brookland.[25] Libertarian Preston Cornish is the only candidate who opposed him in the General Election.[26] [27] He was re-elected with 83.93% of the vote.
McDuffie ran for re-election in the 2018 election. He won with 79.3% of the vote, defeating Kathy Henderson, Joyce Robinson-Paul, and Amone Banks on November 6, 2018.
McDuffie announced his candidacy for Attorney General for the District of Columbia and said that he would not run to represent Ward 5 for another term.[28] McDuffie's qualifications were challenged by candidate Bruce Spiva, who argued that the legislation required that the attorney general was "actively engaged" as an attorney for five years and that service on the Council was not adequate. The Board of Elections supported the challenge, the Court of Appeals upheld their decision, and McDuffie's appeal for a rehearing was denied.[29] [30]
In June 2022, McDuffie changed his registration to independent and picked up paperwork to file to run as a candidate for one of the at-large seats on the Council held by incumbents Elissa Silverman and Anita Bonds.[1] He was elected in November 2022, finishing behind Bonds but ahead of Silverman.[31]
As Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations, McDuffie successfully passed campaign finance reform to close the “LLC loophole,” which historically has allowed limited liability companies to make campaign contributions well above individual limits. His bill also requires campaigns to report all fundraising data online for the Office of Campaign Finance to publish publicly, mandates campaign finance training for candidates, expands the range of penalties for violations, and restricts money order donations to $100. Additionally, the legislation requires lobbyists to disclose any contributions bundled and forwarded to a campaign.[32]
In 2019, McDuffie initially questioned the sole source award of the D.C. Lottery contract, valued at $215million. McDuffie later reversed his position and the contract was narrowly approved.[33] It was revealed that his cousin, Keith McDuffie, was listed as Chief Executive Officer of a subcontractor who received $3 million from the deal. McDuffie denied knowledge of his cousin's involvement.[34]
McDuffie advanced “Ban the Box” legislation that bans the use of criminal background checks in housing as well as passing legislation to end the unfair use of credit history in hiring.[35] McDuffie also passed the innovative Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Act (NEAR Act),[36] which reforms the District’s criminal justice system by incorporating behavioral and mental health professionals to perform tasks that previously fell to law enforcement officers.[37]
McDuffie sought to address the District’s racial wealth gap through the Child Wealth Building Act, a child trust fund, or “baby bonds,” aimed at eliminating the District’s stark racial wealth gap and ending generational poverty.[38]
In 2021, McDuffie introduced legislation to create a Task Force to research and develop reparation proposals for African American descendants of slavery.[39]
In addition, McDuffie serves as a member of the following committees.[40]
McDuffie lives on North Capitol Street with his wife, Princess, and their daughters, Jozi and Kesi.[41]
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