In 1978, Marion Barry defeated incumbent Mayor Walter Washington and D.C. Council Chairman Sterling Tucker in a close Democratic Primary election. Barry would go on to defeat Republican nominee Arthur Fletcher, US. Labor candidate Susan Pennington and Independent candidate Glova Scott in the general election to become Washington, D.C.’s second African American mayor. He would serve two consecutive terms after this election with the third term marred by his arrest for drug use. Barry made a comeback in 1994 winning the general election to serve a fourth term in office.

Janice “Jan” Eichhorn was a Ward 6 activist involved in District issues such as the Home Rule movement as well as the campaigns of numerous D.C. politicians including Marion Barry’s 1978 campaign bid for mayor. She served as a bureau chief at the D.C. Department of Human Services in the 1980s. During this time, she successfully deinstitutionalized Forest Haven. Jan died on July 15, 2009.