DC Mayor Is Defeated in Upset at Primary

WASHINGTON - Muriel E. Bowser, whose activist father introduced her to signature-gathering and door-knocking as a girl, won a stunning upset on Tuesday in the Democratic primary for mayor in a race that turned on the integrity of the incumbent, Vincent C. Gray.

Ms. Bowser, 41, promised a fresh start as she put the focus on Mr. Gray's ethics and neutralized his advantage as leader of a city of increasing economic dynamism.

Mr. Gray, speaking after midnight before the Board of Elections had official results, but with Ms. Bowser leading by a wide margin, addressed supporters as if his term would end this year.

'If I'm going to be in this job another nine months, I'm going to work extremely hard in order to move this city forward,' he said.

Ms. Bowser appeared shortly after and claimed victory.

She will face an independent candidate, David Catania, in the general election in November. The overwhelming registration advantage of Democrats in the district has assured that the primary winner has become the next mayor since home rule began in 1973.

Only three weeks before the election, Mr. Gray was comfortably ahead in the polls when a high-dollar donor pleaded guilty to illegally pumping nearly $700,000 into Mr. Gray's campaign four years ago. The donor said the mayor had participated in the plot.

Mr. Gray, 71, vehemently denied knowledge of the under-the-table effort on his behalf. He accused the donor, Jeffrey E. Thompson, of lying to win a lighter sentence. But overnight, a listless race became a referendum on the mayor's credibility.

Among seven challengers, Ms. Bowser, 41, emerged as the leading alternative to Mr. Gray.

Ms. Bowser, who lives in the northern Washington neighborhood of Riggs Park, positioned herself as sensitive to the concerns of the city's longtime residents worried about being priced out of the housing market, while also supportive of developers and newcomers.

Mr. Gray questioned Ms. Bowser's experience, arguing that in her seven years on the City Council she had never managed a large staff or budget. The mayor also campaigned aggressively in the majority black neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, which four years ago had turned out overwhelmingly for him in his upset of the incumbent, Adrian M. Fenty. Mr. Gray wrapped himself in the embrace of former Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr., now a council member from Ward 8 east of the river and a sometimes-divisive figure.

At a polling place on the U Street Corridor, a center of gentrification in northwest Washington, voters wrestled with their choices. 'The city needs to be cleaned up,' said Jamie Canales, 30, a small-business owner who voted for Ms. Bowser.

Joseph Keller, 42, the owner of a barbershop, said he voted for Mr. Gray 'even though he has some issues.' He recalled an earlier mayor with a light résumé, Sharon Pratt Kelly, as having set the city back.

Adam Strasberg, who makes political advertisements, said that the city needed an alternative to Mr. Gray, but that he could not pull the lever for the rival most likely to beat him. 'I wanted to like Bowser, I just couldn't,' he said. 'She never impressed me.' He voted for Andy Shallal, a restaurateur who was never among the front-runners.

Turnout in the election appeared to be light compared with the 40 percent of registered Democrats who voted in 2010 when the primary was in September.

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