WASHINGTON — Exactly ten days after stepping down from as councilmember of Ward 2, Jack Evans submitted paperwork on Monday with DC Board of Elections to run for his old seat.
Councilmembers responded to the news Tuesday, standing in disbelief. On Thursday, they sent a joint statement sharing their unanimous disagreement with the councilmember's decision to run again, sharing that they "do not and cannot support" the campaign.
"All of us agreed to expel Jack Evans from the DC Council after an exhaustive investigation found numerous violations of our Code of Conduct," the statement read. "His decision to run for Ward 2 Councilmember again, which we do not and cannot support, shows a willful and arrogant disregard for ethics and is not in the best interests of the District. "
The letter was signed by all 12 members of the D.C. Council: Phil Mendelson, Anita Bonds, Robert White, Jr., David Grosso, Elissa Silverman, Brianne Nadeau, Mary M. Cheh, Brandon Todd, Kenyan McDuffie, Charles Allen, Vincent Gray, Trayon White.
"Mr. Evans resigned January 17, we're still in the same month, the ink is hardly dry on the investigative report," Chairman Phil Mendelson said. "I cannot support him coming back."
"I think it's quite sad actually," Mayor Muriel Bowser said. "I would support the comments made by Phil, and I think all of us want to be focused on the business of the District and don't want to be distracted by this race."
Some council members are in disbelief that Evans announced his bid for the Ward 2 seat less than two weeks after he was forced to resign amid repeated council ethics violations.
In November, councilmembers hired O’Melveny & Myers law firm, who poured over 240,000-260,000 documents to investigate Evans, according to Councilmember Mary Cheh's office. The 266-page report and investigation cost taxpayers $250,000.
"We voted unanimously to expel him because we thought that was the only appropriate reaction," Councilmember Mary Cheh, who led the internal investigation into Evans' misconduct, said.
Councilmembers say the investigation found that Evans had exploited his office in order to line his pockets from special interest groups.
"I was mad about it and the public should be as well," Cheh said. "They were tricked. They did not have the full, honest ethical representation of their representative."
The special election to fill Evans' seat will cost $200,000, according to a spokesperson from the DC Board of Elections. Councilmember Charles Allen pegs the price tag of filling his seat at $1 million.
"He hasn't even received his last paycheck from a job he had to quit to avoid being fired from," Allen tweeted. "The District will spend $1 million on a special election to replace him -and he says he's running in it? This is unbelievable. DC deserved better than this."
That estimate includes around $700,000 the Office of Campaign Finance set aside for a new program to help publicly finance campaigns, according to Erik Salmi, a spokesperson for Councilmember Allen.
"The electorate has not been forgiving this quickly," Mendelson said. "In 1990 after Marion Barry was arrested, he chose to run for city council and he was defeated, people have forgotten that they think that he was unbeatable, but he lost and lost badly. I would be surprised."
During his last election run in 2016, Evans ran uncontested and breezed through with 96.58% of the vote. Approximately 27,534 people voted him into office, 975 people wrote-in a candidate.
Evans' decision for re-election now is in the hands of Ward 2 voters, come the special elections on June 16.
WUSA9 called and emailed Jack Evans to get his perspective on the decision to run, but we did not receive a response.