Robert White

Robert C. White Jr. (born 1982) is an American attorney and politician who has served on the Council of the District of Columbia since 2016.

Robert White was born in Washington, D.C., in 1982 to Robert "Bobby" White Sr. and his wife, Tamara ( Richards).

Robert is one of five children.

His father is a fourth-generation Washingtonian, and a deacon in the Catholic Church.

His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother died from breast cancer in September 1990 when he was eight years old.

A month after her death, he was critically injured when a semi-trailer truck side-swiped a passenger vehicle in which he was riding on New Hampshire Avenue in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The automobile spun, flipped over, struck the median, flipped into the air, and landed on the hood of another car in the opposite lane.

He suffered a severe skull fracture, and underwent several operations before making a full recovery.

White attended the private Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., where he began playing lacrosse his senior year.

After graduation, he attended St. Mary's College of Maryland in St. Mary's City, Maryland.

He graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy.

He is the first member of his family to graduate from college.

White enrolled in law school at American University in Washington, D.C., graduating with a Juris Doctor in 2007 from the Washington College of Law.

From 2007 to 2008, White was a law clerk for the Maryland District Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, and at the law firm of Webster, Fredrickson, Correia & Puth.

From 2008 to 2014, he was legislative counsel in the office of Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's Delegate to the United States House of Representatives.

In July 2008, White took a position as legislative counsel to Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.

He specialized in economic development, environmental protection, and home rule legislation.

In January 2013, White was a co-founder of the Brightwood Park Citizens Association, and was elected its founding president.

White resigned from Norton's office in September 2013, switched his political affiliation to independent, and he filed as a candidate for an at-large seat on the Council of the District of Columbia, seeking to defeat one of the two incumbents (David Catania and Anita Bonds).

In 2014, he was an unsuccessful candidate for an at-large seat on the council, placing fourth out of 16.

As the primary season neared its conclusion in April 2014, White reported raising $34,000 in donations.

In comparison, Bonds had raised $59,000, and realtor and banker John F. Settles II had raised $28,000.

The general election field was a crowded one.

After the primary, Catania announced he would run for Mayor of the District of Columbia as an independent.

Instead of one open at-large seat, voters now needed to fill two slots.

A number of candidates registered as independents to run for the at-large seat, while others saw their chances for winning a seat increase.

White's fundraising efforts dried up as donors began sending money to other candidates.

White raised another $35,000 by mid-August, During the election campaign, White advocated banning all corporate and private political donations and using public financing for all campaigns for D.C. government office.

White's candidacy was endorsed by at-large Council member David Grosso, Ward 7 Council member Yvette Alexander, and Ward 5 Council member Kenyan McDuffie.

White was also backed by the AFSCME District Council 20, two locals of the Service Employees International Union, the D.C. Association of Realtors, the D.C. Hotel Association, and the Sierra Club.

The endorsements helped, as White raised $70,000 from mid-August to mid-October, more than any other candidate.

On October 27, the editorial board of The Washington Post endorsed him as well.

On election day, however, voters chose Anita Bonds and Elissa Silverman to represent them in the at-large seats on the council.

White came in a distant fourth, with just 6.2 percent of the vote.

White later said his all-volunteer campaign staff lacked the time and expertise to run the get out the vote effort he needed.

He won the Democratic primary for the at-large seat in 2016, defeating 12-year incumbent Vincent Orange.

After Orange resigned his seat, White was appointed to Orange's complete term, and sworn in on September 16, 2016.

He won election to his seat in November 2016 with 217,834 votes, which counted for 38% of the total votes.

In October 2021, he announced his candidacy for mayor in the 2022 election.

In June 2022, he finished second in the Democratic Primary, losing to incumbent Muriel Bowser.