Phillip Pannell announces race for Ward 8 D.C. Council seat
Gay D.C. Democratic activist Phillip Pannell, who has been active in political and community endeavors in the city’s Ward 8 neighborhoods for more than 30 years, has announced he is running for the Ward 8 D.C.
Council seat currently held by incumbent Council member Trayon White (D), who was arrested on Aug. 18 by the FBI on bribery charges.
Pannell, 73, has served as executive director since 1995 of the Anacostia Coordinating Council, an organization that advocates for D.C.’s Anacostia neighborhoods and surrounding areas east of the Anacostia River.
He told the Washington Blade he decided to run for the Ward 8 Council seat as a write-in candidate to give residents an option to vote for someone other than Trayon White and the only other candidate currently on the November election ballot for the Ward 8 Council seat, Republican Nate Derenge.
