Adrian Fenty Defeated In Reelection Bid

By Kavitha Cardoza

It's hard to imagine four years ago Fenty swept to power, winning every precinct in the District. This time around, the mood at his headquarters was starkly different: glum, once the election results started trickling in.

At 1:30 in the morning, even after his challenger Vincent Gray was the projected winner, Fenty sounded defiant.

"Thank you all for being here. On to victory!," he said.

A half hour later, Gray delivered his victory speech. Fenty did not stay at his campaign headquarters until all the results were in. Neither would he answer questions about losing, calling them "hypothetical."

He did say the race was closer than expected.

"It was absolutely a ton closer than anyone thought it would have been, two or three weeks ago," Fenty said.

At 2:30, the spokesperson for the Fenty campaign said Fenty is conceding.

Fenty began his term intensely popular with voters, but in recent months, fell out of favor with residents who said he was arrogant, out of touch, and aloof.