Trayon White (born May 11, 1984) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia from January 2017 to February 2025.
White was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2022 mayoral election, taking third place in the Democratic primary against incumbent Muriel Bowser.
[11] White later enrolled at a master's degree program in public administration at Southeastern University in Washington, D.C., but apparently did not complete his studies.
He remained involved as a mentor and sports coach while in college,[13] and joined ERCPCP as a paid community outreach worker about 2006.
[14] Interviewed by The Washington Post in January 2008, White said that a large number of his friends were robbed in D.C. in 2007, and he knew five people who had been murdered that year.
[15] White, who lived in the Washington Highlands neighborhood, denounced the 2007 shooting of 14-year-old DeOnte Rawlings by an off-duty D.C. police officer as "injustice.
"[16] In November 2007, White founded Helping Inner City Kids Succeed (HICKS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping poverty-stricken children east of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C.[6][17] White received the Linowes Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region in May 2008 for his work with at-risk young people.
[19] White won the April 26, 2011 special election with 32.8% of the vote in a crowded field, defeating second-place candidate Philip Pannell by 6%.
In late February 2014, White took a job as a supervisor in the "Roving Leaders" at-risk youth program in the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation.
)[29] On Sunday, November 23, 2014, 78-year-old Marion Barry died at United Medical Center, hours after having been released from Howard University Hospital.
[30] On December 16, The Washington Post reported that White was one of many individuals contemplating a run for Barry's Ward 8 council seat.
[34] Despite the low level of initial fundraising, the Washington City Paper, quoting unnamed Ward 8 political insiders, said White probably shared the lead in the race with May.
Will Sommer, the writer of the influential "Loose Lips" political column for the Washington City Paper, observed that May's win may have indicated trouble for her campaign: May paid for a free barbecue for all comers just two blocks from where the straw vote was held, and Mayor Muriel Bowser stood on a nearby street waving a May campaign sign.
[39] Candidates Stuart Anderson and Jauhar Abraham dropped out of the race over the next four days, and urged voters to support Trayon White.
[43] However, with 1,031 provisional and absentee ballots yet to be counted, the District of Columbia Board of Elections (BOE) said the outcome of the race was too close to call.
The Washington Post said its analysis showed White needed to win 65 percent of the provisional and absentee ballots to prevail.
His portfolio focused on at-risk youth, juvenile justice issues, combatting designer drug use, and general outreach to neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.
Few other candidates were expected to run in the race, and at the filing deadline White already had the endorsements of Jauhar Abraham, Stuart Anderson, Marion Christopher Barry,[21][d] and Karl Racine, Attorney General of the District of Columbia.
[57] May proved highly popular among healthcare companies and real estate developers, and her donation network spread nationwide.
Gray, attempting to return to the District Council by challenging incumbent Yvette Alexander in Ward 7, funded a pro-White robocall effort that called White an "independent thinker".
[67] In June 2016, White endorsed a D.C. campaign finance reform proposal to bar any person or corporation from receiving a city contract with $100,000 or more if they donate to a District Council election.
"[67] White faced three challengers in the 2020 Democratic primary: former UMC executive Mike Austin; his former campaign manager Stuart Anderson; and attorney Yaida Ford.
[79] On March 16, 2018, White posted a video on his official Facebook page showing snow flurries falling, alluding to the conspiracy theory of the Rothschild family conspiring to manipulate the weather.
[84] The Washington City Paper reported on March 19 that this was not the first time White alluded to a Jewish conspiracy to control global weather.
[85] White later apologized for making the statement,[81] and said he was working with Jews United for Justice to develop a deeper understanding of antisemitism.
[85] According to The Washington Post, several Jewish organizations in the area said they believed White's apology was sincere and that his comments seemed to have been made from a position of ignorance rather than antisemitism.
[86] On March 19, 2018, the Council released footage of a February 27, 2018, event[e] in which White claimed that the Rothschilds controlled the World Bank and the U.S. government.
Mayor Bowser, council members, and other city leaders attending the event showed puzzlement at White's remarks but did not condemn them at the time.
The FBI stated that White had accepted $156,000 of bribes in order to pressure District employees to give $5.2 million-worth of contracts to the companies that had given him the payments.
[92] However, it was agreed as condition for his release from prison, he had to surrender his passport and any guns and must also notify pretrial services if he plans to travel outside the D.C.