Brianne Nadeau

Brianne Nadeau (born October 11, 1980) is an American Democratic politician in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 1 since 2015.

Nadeau graduated from Boston College with a bachelor's degree in political science in 2002.

She also earned a master's degree in public policy from American University in 2006.

She worked as a scheduler for Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland.

Nadeau worked as a public relations consultant and vice president for Rabinowitz Communications, where she promoted progressive causes for nonprofit organizations.

Nadeau was a member of the board of directors of Jews United for Justice, a charitable organization that helps pursue justice and equality in local community.

She was active in the District of Columbia chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.

Nadeau served as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for district 1B05 from 2007 to 2011.

Nadeau criticized Graham for actions he took in 2008 which resulted in the District Council reprimanding Graham for improperly interfering with the awarding of a government contract.

Graham said his actions may have been political horse-trading rather than anything illegal or unethical.

During the campaign, Graham accused Nadeau of irregularities in connection to a home-buyer program.

According to Graham, in 2009 Nadeau had asked Graham and then-Council Chair Vincent Gray for help with a home-buyer program.

Nadeau had been approved for the loan two years earlier, but the income-based loan guarantee was reduced because her salary had increased since then.

Graham said that signing her letters with her title as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner was inappropriate and unethical.

Nadeau defended the letters, saying she was about to lose her home and simply advocated for herself the best way she could.

Following an investigation, the Inspector General cleared Nadeau and found that all the allegations were unsubstantiated.

Nadeau defeated Graham in the primary election by a wide margin.

In the general election, Nadeau was on the ballot with independent Ernest Johnson and Libertarian John Vaught LaBeaume; there was no Republican candidate on the ballot.

Nadeau went on to win the general election as well.

She defeated long-time incumbent Jim Graham in the Democratic Party primary and won the general election with 75% of the vote in 2014.

She is the first woman to represent Ward 1 on the council and the first D.C. Councilmember to give birth while serving in office.

Brianne K. Nadeau was born into a Jewish family in Michigan, growing up in Grosse Pointe.

A Girl Scout for 13 years, she earned a Gold Award, the Scouts' highest honor.

Nadeau has said that Girl Scouts taught her to look for work and to leave things better than you found them.

Nadeau ran against four-term member of the Council of the District of Columbia Jim Graham in the Democratic Party primary election in 2014.

Her candidacy was endorsed by At-large Council Member David Grosso, Ward Six Council Member Tommy Wells, progressive political action committee Democracy for America, and the editorial boards of The Washington Post, the Washington City Paper and Northwest Current.

During her campaign, Nadeau emphasized such issues as affordable housing, transportation, constituent services, and the need to provide long-term solutions to recurring problems.

In 2015, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the District's welfare program, was scheduled to terminate benefits for 6,000 very-low income families.

Prior to her tenure as chair of the Human Services Committee, Nadeau introduced a bill that would have extended benefits for many of the families scheduled to lose support.

As chair, she passed a reform of TANF along the lines of her earlier bill that would not cut benefits.

In 2016, her 2014 campaign was audited by the Office of Campaign Finance.

In mid-2017, Nadeau announced that she would run for a second term on the DC Council.

As of August 2017, she had outraised her challengers, with approximately one-third of her campaign contributions coming from developers, lawyers, lobbyists, and corporations.

Nadeau, along with several other council members, sends out periodic mailers to her constituents.

The practice has been criticized as possible taxpayer-funded campaigning.

Nadeau again took the victory in the general election for the D.C. City Council Ward 1 seat.

She won with almost 80% of the vote.

In 2017, Nadeau became Chair of the D.C Council's Human Services Committee.

During Nadeau's tenure as chair, Mayor Bowser in 2017 proposed a bill to reform the District's emergency homelessness system that would increase from one to two the number of documents homeless residents would need to prove their District residency.

The bill was opposed by a coalition of homeless services providers for its more stringent proof-of-residency requirements, some of which were moderated.