Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. (born April 11, 1957) is a former American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and former president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. An attorney and a

certified public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

, Orange represented

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

5 on the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...

from 1999 to 2007, and was an at-large member from 2011 to 2016. He lost the June 2016 Democratic primary election to Robert White. Although his term was not due to end until January 2, 2017, Orange resigned from the council effective August 15, 2016, in the wake of conflict of interest charges over his new employment at the Chamber of Commerce.

Early years

Vincent Bernard Orange was born April 11, 1957, and raised in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. With a scholarship Orange attended

Fountain Valley School of Colorado The Fountain Valley School of Colorado is a private, co-educational independent college preparatory school for students in 9th through 12th grades. The school's primary campus is located on of rolling prairie at the base of the Rocky Mountains in ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. He graduated from the University of the Pacific, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in 1979 and a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

in 1980. In 1983, he earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

. He worked as a senior tax accountant for accounting firm

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

from 1983 to 1987. In 1988, he graduated from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

, where he earned a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

Taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal person, legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regiona ...

. Orange is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. In 1981, Orange worked weekends as a security guard at the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', a position he kept for fourteen years. From 1987 to 1989, Orange worked for the district's department of finance and revenue. He was manager of the district's Tax Amnesty Program, and he was acting chief of the District's Office of Real Property Tax Assessment Services Division. In 1988, he served as a United States delegate to the United States/Japan Bilateral Session: "A New Era in Legal and Economic Relations" in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In September 1990, he served as a delegate to the Moscow Conference on Law and Bilateral Economic Relations.

Early electoral history

Unsuccessful 1990 race

In 1990, he ran for chair of the

, against Democrat John A. Wilson, who was then a council member representing Ward 2. Also running for chair was

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

candidate Jacques Chevalier. Orange criticized Wilson's chairmanship of the council's Finance and Revenue Committee, noting that the district's financial troubles happened during Wilson's eleven-year tenure. Orange advocated collecting unpaid tax bills, rather than increasing tax rates, as he said Wilson wanted to do. Wilson won the Democratic primary with 82 percent of the vote, to Orange's 18 percent. In 1991, he was hired as acting director of internal audit for the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

. The next year, Orange discovered that the university was paying a fuel supplier, Tri-Continental, for fuel it never actually received. According to the District's inspector general, over a period of eighteen months, the District had paid one million dollars to Tri-Continental for fuel it had not received. The day after Orange released his memo naming two university administrators to be at fault, Orange's employment was terminated. The university said that Orange had been hired under an invalid contract.

Unsuccessful 1993 race

After Wilson's suicide in 1993, Orange was one of seven individuals to file to run to fill the position of Council Chair. Also filing to run in the race were Ward 4 Councilmember

Charlene Drew Jarvis Charlene Drew Jarvis (born July 31, 1941, in Washington, D.C.Linda Cropp. Orange did not collect enough signatures to run, and his candidacy was disqualified by the

District of Columbia Board of Elections The District of Columbia Board of Elections (BOE) is the independent agency of the District government responsible for the administration of elections, ballot access and voter registration. The BOE consists of three active board members, an executiv ...

. Orange's appealed, saying that the District's requirement of filing nominating petitions with 3,000 valid signatures was onerous, but District of Columbia Court of Appeals disagreed, and Orange stayed off the ballot. Orange declared himself a write-in candidate. Clarke won the election with 47 percent of the vote. Write-in votes, including those for Orange, were one percent of the total.

Unsuccessful 1995 race

In 1994, Orange ran for councilmember to represent Ward 5, along with incumbent Harry Thomas, Sr. and eight other Democratic party candidates. Orange advocated banning new liquor licenses, developing Fort Lincoln, and building a new convention center at New York Avenue and

Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, Bounda ...

. Thomas won with 39 percent of the vote, compared to Orange's 17 percent.

Council of the District of Columbia

1998 successful Council race

In 1998, Orange ran again for councilmember to represent Ward 5; Harry Thomas, Sr. ran for reelection. The ''Washington Posts editorial board endorsed Orange's candidacy. Orange emphasized improvements to New York Avenue, improving the economy and schools, and restricting liquor licenses. Orange defeated Thomas, receiving 38 percent of the vote to Thomas' 34 percent. The ''Post'' called described it as an upset victory. Orange won the general election as well with 89 percent of the vote.

Unsuccessful 2006 mayoral race

In 2006, Orange ran for District mayor. During his campaign, he said he was against same-sex marriage. In September 2006, Orange lost his bid for mayor in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

, receiving 2.9% of the vote. From 2007 to 2010, Orange was the regional vice president for

Pepco The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan i ...

Holdings Inc. for the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Unsuccessful council chair race

In 2010, Orange announced his candidacy for chair of council of the District of Columbia, challenging at-large council member

Kwame Brown Kwame Hasani Brown (born March 10, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Selected by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA draft, Brown was the first No. ...

for the position. At the time, he was working as the chief financial officer of the National Children's Center. Orange said he was now in favor of same-sex marriage, changing his position from four years earlier, saying "times change." After three credit card companies sued Brown for unpaid bills and Brown said his mortgage and other personal debt totaled around $700,000, Orange said Brown's poor handling of his personal finances should make him unfit to handle the District's finances. Orange was also critical of irregularities in Brown's financial filings for his previous two campaigns, which Brown attributed to accounting errors. Two of Orange's campaign aides resigned due to the negative tone of his campaign. The editorial board of the ''Washington Post'' endorsed Orange's candidacy. All but one of the sitting council members endorsed Brown's reelection. Brown won the Democratic primary with 55 percent of the vote, while Orange received 39 percent. Brown prevailed in the general election as well. When Brown resigned from his at-large council seat, Orange lobbied the

District of Columbia Democratic State Committee The District of Columbia Democratic State Committee (DC Dems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the District of Columbia. As of March 31, 2016, Democrats make up 76 percent of the registered voters in the District of Columbia, while 6 p ...

to be appointed as the interim to replacement on the council, but they voted to appoint

Sekou Biddle Sekou Biddle is a politician in Washington, D.C. Early years and education Biddle was raised in Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, where he played football. Biddle graduated from Morehouse Coll ...

to the seat instead.

Successful 2011 Council race

Orange was a candidate in the 2011 special election to fill the at-large seat vacated by Brown; Biddle ran in the special election to keep the seat as well. The editorial board of the ''Washington Post'' endorsed the candidacy of Republican

Patrick Mara Patrick Mara is a former elected member of the District of Columbia Board of Education. Early years Mara is originally from Rhode Island. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science and environmental science at Marist College. While at ...

. Orange won election with 28 percent of the vote. In March 2011, the council was trying to close a budget shortfall, and it considered taxing out-of-state bonds for upper-income individuals. Orange only decided to support the idea on the condition that the council would budget spending $500,000 for an

Emancipation Day Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent. On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the fir ...

parade at the Lincoln Theatre, where Orange sat on the board of directors. In June 2011, the ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...

'' reported that Orange received more than $100,000 of campaign contributions from Jeffrey Thompson, CEO of a health provider accused of defrauding the D.C. government. When council member

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council ...

introduced an ethics bill that would disqualify mayors and council members convicted of felonies while in office, Orange opposed the bill, saying it would create unneeded bureaucracy. Orange supported new restrictions on

medical marijuana Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...

retailers and adult entertainment businesses in Northeast D.C. Orange was also in favor of using District funds to build

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimen ...

2012 term and reelection

On June 6, 2012, federal prosecutors charged District Council chairman Kwame R. Brown with one count of bank fraud in U.S. District Court; Brown resigned from the council later that day. Upon Kwame R. Brown's resignation, it became the responsibility of the council to vote to appoint one of the at-large council members to the vacant seat of chair. Orange and

Phil Mendelson Philip Heath Mendelson (born November 8, 1952) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Br ...

both wanted to be appointed chair. After the council voted to appoint Mendelson the new chair, Orange asked the council to appoint him to Mendelson's former position of chair ''

pro tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

''. The council voted to appoint Michael A. Brown to the position of chair pro tem. Orange felt appointing an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

council member to a position formerly held by a Democrat was a poor idea. In 2012, Orange ran for reelection as at-large council member, his fifth campaign in six years. Orange received $26,000 of money orders, which he called "suspicious" campaign donations, all in sequential numbers and written in the same handwriting. The money orders may have been connected to city contractor Jeffrey E. Thompson, whose home and office had been raided by the FBI and the IRS. Jeanne Clarke Harris later admitted she had run a straw donor scheme funded by Thompson. Orange won the Democratic primary with 42 percent of the vote and the subsequent general election with 38 percent of the vote. During his term in office, Orange supported a bill to increase the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

to $12.50 per hour for certain large employers. In December 2012, health inspectors found unsanitary conditions and rat droppings in a produce market in the Florida Avenue Market. The District of Columbia Department of Health ordered the market be closed immediately. Orange intervened for the owner, who had donated to Orange's campaign, While Orange accepted responsibility of the charges, he insisted he performed a function of constituent service and thus did not violate the council's Code of Conduct or abuse his position. Orange agreed he would attend ethics training and never abuse his position again. Orange said he thought his actions were an acceptable constituent service and that his behavior did not reflect poorly on him at all. To settle the matter, Orange agreed to attend ethics training. "In the past, this has been clearly acceptable constituent service, but now you have people looking at it a different way," Orange told the ''Post'''s Tim Craig. To the ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ow ...

'', he said, "I don't think it reflects poorly on me at all" and health inspectors allowed the market to open the next day.

Unsuccessful 2014 mayoral race

On November 8, 2013, Orange announced that he would run for

Mayor of the District of Columbia The mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed ...

in the 2014 election. His campaign slogans were "Leaving No One Behind" and "Taking No One for Granted". He supported demolishing

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the ...

and replacing it with a commercial strip, a golf course, a movie sound stage, a hotel, an indoor waterpark, and a film and photography center. In the Democratic primary, he came sixth out of eight candidates, receiving 1,946 votes (2.01%).

Unsuccessful 2016 reelection race

Orange filed to run for reelection in October 2015.King, Colbert I.
The biggest race in the District next year
. ''The Washington Post''. October 24, 2015. p. A15. The same month, former

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are bodies of local government in District of Columbia, in the United States. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a District referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. T ...

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton *Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...

residentFive questions for D.C. at-large candidates: Incumbent Vincent B. Orange and challengers David Garber and Robert White explain why they deserve your vote
. ''The Washington Post''. June 8, 2016. David Garber filed to run against Orange in the Democratic primary, calling Orange "a corrupt politician with deep pockets." Robert White, a former aide to District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine and resident of

Brightwood Park Brightwood Park is a small neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. in the United States. The neighborhood is bounded by Georgia Avenue NW to the west, Missouri Avenue NW to the northeast and Kennedy Street NW to the south. More recently, areas ...

, also ran against Orange.Fewer oranges, more minimum-wage talk in Vincent Orange's 11th D.C. campaign: Challengers Robert White and David Garber say the incumbent has outlandish ideas and is focused on himself
. ''The Washington Post''. June 8, 2016. The editorial board of the ''Washington Post'' endorsed Orange's candidacy. White won the Democratic primary with 43% of the vote, compared to Orange's 41% and Garber's 16%.

Committees

Orange served on the following committees while on the Council of the District of Columbia: * Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (chair during his final term) * Committee on Finance and Revenue * Committee on Housing and Committee Development

Council resignation

On July 28, 2016, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce announced that it had selected Vincent Orange to be the organization's next president. Council rules permit outside employment, and Orange said he had received guidance from the city's ethics office that his new job would not create a conflict of interest with his council work. Orange's new job created a public scandal. His colleagues on the council strongly disputed Orange's claim that there was no conflict of interest. On August 3, Orange dissolved a subcommittee on business regulation, which he chaired. On August 5, with the scandal only worsening, Orange announced he would retire from the council on August 15, 2016, the same day on which his Chamber of Commerce position began. Orange officially left the council on August 15, reminding the public of his 12 years of "service above self". No other council members appeared at his press conference. The D.C. Office of Government Ethics said it would soon issue a draft of restrictions that would limit Orange's ability to lobby the council, as required by law. The D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability ruled in late September 2016 that Orange did not break ethics laws or regulations in seeking the Chamber of Commerce position.

Unsuccessful 2020 council race

In June 2020, Orange left his job at the D.C. Chamber of Commerce to run for an at-large council seat left open by

David Grosso David Grosso (born September 18, 1970) is an American attorney and politician. He is a former at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia who lives in Brookland. A native Washingtonian, he graduated from Earlham College and Georget ...

's retirement. An issue in the race was DC's paid family leave law, which Orange criticized and suggested repealing. Orange lost the general election with 12% of the vote.

2022 council race

In the wake of Councilman McDuffie's decision not to seek another term as ward 5 council member, Orange declared that he will run in 2022. In the 2022 race, Orange used a DC Stonewall Democrats forum to attack his opponent, Zachary Parker, for not having come out of the closet sooner in his political life, calling Parker's identity "a matter of convenience" and that "it just doesn't add up." Local DC gay community members and activists criticized him for politicizing the process of coming out of the closet; for example, the grassroots organizing group Persist DC said that they were "Still stunned that Vincent Orange chose the Stonewall Dems(!) forum for a shameful, unprovoked attack on achary Parkers decision to be public about his sexual orientation. If VO wasn't being outright homophobic, he was at minimum showing catastrophically poor judgement." Similarly, Councilmember Brianne K Nadeau criticized Orange for his actions, saying, "Hell no, VO. You need to do some more work sir. This is not acceptable and the District deserves better." In repeated tweets in response to the criticism, Orange asserted that Parker "made this issue" when Parker announced that he was gay at the start of his run for the council member seat, asking, "why now Mr Parker" (sic) in repeated tweets.

D.C. Chamber of Commerce presidency

Orange's appointment as the president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce (DCCoC) was effective at noon on August 15, 2016. Orange said that, due to legal restrictions on his ability to lobby his former Council colleagues, he would, for the immediate future, focus on adding new members to the DCCoC and raising funds for its operations. The Chamber's board announced on July 16, 2020 that Orange would step down from the organization, effective July 30, 2020.

Personal life

Orange lives in Ward 5, with his wife, Gwendolyn. He has three children, and is a member of the

Metropolitan AME Church Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church ("Metropolitan AME Church") is a historic church located at 1518 M Street (Washington, D.C.), M Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., N.W., in downtown Washington, D.C. It affiliates with the Afric ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Orange, Vincent 1957 births Howard University alumni Living people University of the Pacific (United States) alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Members of the Council of the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., Democrats African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people