Linda W. Cropp

Linda Washington Cropp (born October 5, 1947[1]) is an American politician from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. She was a Democratic member of the Council of the District of Columbia, where she was the first woman to serve as the elected Council Chairman. On September 12, 2006, she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor (57% to 31%) to Adrian Fenty. This loss came in spite of the fact that Cropp had been endorsed by outgoing mayor Anthony A. Williams. She was succeeded as Council Chairman by Vincent C. Gray.

Linda W. Cropp
Cropp speaking in February 2006
6th Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia
In office
July 22, 1997 – January 3, 2007
Preceded byDavid A. Clarke
Succeeded byVincent C. Gray
Member of the Council of the District of Columbia At-large
In office
1991–1997
Preceded byBetty Ann Kane
Succeeded byArrington Dixon
Personal details
Born (1947-10-05) October 5, 1947[1]
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.[2]
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDwight S. Cropp[3]
RelationsChristian Alexander (grandson)[4]
ChildrenAlison[5]
Christopher[5]
Alma materHoward University (B.A., Government)[6]
Howard University (Master of Education)[7]

Early life and education

Cropp received a bachelor's degree in government from Howard University[6] in 1969. In 1971, she received a Master of Education degree[7] in guidance and counseling from Howard University. She was a student-teacher at Eastern Senior High School, where she met her husband.[8] In 2002, Cropp received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of the District of Columbia and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from the George Washington University in 2007.

Career

From 1970 to 1978, Cropp worked as a teacher and a counselor with the District of Columbia Public Schools.[9]

In 1979, she ran for the District of Columbia Board of Education to represent Ward 4.[10] At the time, she was a guidance counselor at Roosevelt Senior High School.[8] Her candidacy was supported by then-Mayor Marion Barry.[11] Cropp won the election, defeating opponent Victoria T. Street.[11]

Cropp in 2007

Cropp started her first term representing Ward 4 on the D.C. Board of Education in 1980.[12] She was elected vice president of the Board of Education in December 1984,[13] and then president in January 1989.[7]

In 1988, Cropp ran to represent Ward 4 on the Council of the District of Columbia.[14] Cropp criticized incumbent Charlene Drew Jarvis, saying Jarvis had too much allegiance to big businesses because they were the source of the great majority of her campaign contributions.[15] Cropp also said that Jarvis had not done enough to help small businesses along Georgia Avenue.[15] Jarvis criticized Cropp for the disappointing results of public schools under Cropp's leadership of the Board of Education.[15] The editorial board of The Washington Post endorsed Jarvis' reelection.[16] Cropp was defeated by Jarvis in the Democratic Party Primary Election, 47% to 52%.[17] When Council Member Betty Ann Kane decided not to run for reelection to her at-large seat in 1990,[18] Cropp ran to replace her.[19] The editorial board of the Washington Post endorsed the campaign of her opponent, Johnny Barnes.[20] Cropp won the Democratic Party primary election, receiving 51 percent of the vote; Johnny Barnes received 27 percent, and Terry Lynch received 22 percent.[21] Cropp went on to win the general election with 38 percent of the vote.[22]

  • 1992 elected as chair of the Councilors Committee on Human Services[12]
  • 1994 re-elected at-large member of D.C. Council
  • 1997 named acting Chairman of D.C. Council, following the death of David Clarke
  • 1997 elected D.C. Council Chairman in a special election
  • 1998 re-elected D.C. Council Chairman
  • 2002 re-elected D.C. Council Chairman
  • 2006 entered race for Mayor

After her 2006 loss, Cropp retired from politics. Cropp joined the board of two not-for-profit companies, the Community Preservation and Development Corp. and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, and also volunteered for two other local charities, Capital City Links and the D.C. chapter of Boys Town. In 2013 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield promoted her to chairman of the board.

Personal life

Cropp is married to Dwight S. Cropp,[3] a doctor of public policy with a Ph.D. from George Washington University. She has two children, Allison and Christopher,[5] and a grandson, Christian Alexander.[4] She lives in Crestwood in Washington, D.C.[8]

References
  1. "Voters Guide 2006 Supplement" (PDF). The Washington Informer. 2006-09-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-25.
  2. Farhi, Paul (December 16, 2004). "Hitting One Out Of the Ballpark: Linda Cropp Takes Both Heat And Praise for Stadium Vote". The Washington Post. p. C1.
  3. Knight, Athelia (April 5, 1988). "Jarvis Raises $100,000 For Election: Tough Fight Seen With Linda Cropp". The Washington Post. p. B1.
  4. Koncius, Jura (July 6, 2006). "Linda Cropp's Downtime: At Her Home in Northwest, the D.C. Mayoral Candidate Pushes Back the Politics for the Personal". The Washington Post. p. H1.
  5. Kirksey, Taaq (May 25, 2006). "Cropp Promotes Continued 'Progress'". Washington Informer. p. 1.
  6. Vincent, Sherry (January 4, 2007). "Howard Leaves Its Mark on Local Leadership". Washington Informer. p. 15.
  7. "D.C. School Board Elects Linda Cropp President". Washington Informer. January 13, 1988. p. 1.
  8. "Meet the Winners In School Board Race". The Washington Post. November 15, 1979. p. DC3.
  9. "District of Columbia Voter's Guide: D.C. Council". The Washington Post. September 6, 1990. p. VGDC4.
  10. Feinberg, Lawrence (August 30, 1979). "5 Incumbents, Several Friends of Barry Among 25 Running for D.C. School Board". The Washington Post. p. B5.
  11. Coleman, Milton; Thompson, Vernon C. (November 7, 1979). "Four Candidates Backed by Barry Elected to Board: Four on Barry's Slate Elected to School Board". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  12. Linda Cropp papers, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University.
  13. Sargent, Edward D. (December 21, 1984). "Hall Elected School Board President: 'Let Us Build,' New Leader Says Hall To Head School Board". The Washington Post. p. B1.
  14. Knight, Athelia (August 19, 1988). "Officially Neutral Mayor Seen Favoring Cropp in Ward 4 Race". The Washington Post. p. D4.
  15. Knight, Athelia (September 8, 1988). "Cropp, Jarvis Trade Darts At Ward 4 Council Forum". The Washington Post. p. B11.
  16. "Tuesday's D.C. Primaries" (eduitorial). The Washington Post. September 11, 1988. p. C6.
  17. Knight, Athelia (September 14, 1988). "Crawford, Jarvis Win Tight Races: Voters in Primary Back Incumbents For D.C. Council". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  18. "The Next D.C. Council". The Washington Post. July 14, 1990. p. A18.
  19. McCall, Nathan (June 7, 1990). "Council Contests Shape Up: Contenders Crowd At-Large Seat Race". The Washington Post. p. J1.
  20. "The Next D.C. Council" (editorial). The Washington Post. September 9, 1990. p. D6.
  21. Sanchez, Rene (September 12, 1990). "Winter Loses Ward 6 Seat: Wilson, Cropp Triumph". The Washington Post. p. A2.
  22. Sanchez, Rene (November 7, 1990). "D.C. COUNCIL; Wilson Elevated to Chairman: Cropp, Mason Beat Barry". The Washington Post. p. A31.
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