Linda Chavez - Washington's Racially Polarized Election

Linda Chavez

Washington D.C.'s mayoral race may not have attracted as much attention as some other high-profile races in Tuesday's elections, but the results could have far-reaching impact across the country. One-term mayor Adrian Fenty lost his chance for a second term in what was one of the most racially polarized elections anywhere. But this wasn't a case of a black candidate defeating a white one -- or the reverse -- or a candidate of one race losing in a city where most residents were of a different race. Nonetheless, race was an important factor that helped determine the outcome. Washington is a majority black city, with 54 percent of its residents African-American. Both Fenty and the man who defeated him, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, are black. But Fenty garnered only 20 percent of the vote in poor black neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, while he won 80 percent of the votes in more affluent white neighborhoods in Northwest Washington. Read more here:

Linda Chavez - Washington's Racially Polarized Election