Fiona Greig, D.C. Council candidate for Ward 2, has announced that she is dropping out of the race. Greig cited the alleged intimidation campaign run by opposition Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and his supporters as her reason for dropping out.

“At home, I received muffled phone calls telling me about the ‘dirt’ my opponent had on me,” Greig wrote in her statement. “Someone wanting to hold a ‘Meet and Greet’ for me received nasty emails from the opposing campaign. And I learned from a city agency that a well-known private investigator whose firm does ‘surveillance’ and ‘domestic investigations’ had requested my records. Maybe that explains the man who repeatedly walked past my house one night, looking in the windows.”

Whether these actions constitute an intimidation campaign or are just normal tactics (or whether they were even instituted by Evans) is unclear. But this does show that Greig, who received a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard and works at consulting firm McKinsey & Co., was not ready for the D.C. political scene.

From the start, Greig faced an uphill battle against Evans. She emphasized smart growth and retaining young families in Ward 2 as much instituting Council ethics reform, but she was seen by many as the  ”Not Jack Evans” candidate (which is, in this blogger’s mind, a legitimate platform).

Although she may not have had much of a chance against Evans’s fundraising and political prowess (especially when she has her own fundraising issues), Greig’s candidacy can hopefully serve as a stepping stone for others who are fed up with the Council.

Greig, who may have been recruited by David Alpert and Ken Archer, was willing to challenge the the norm of D.C. politics. She was also enthusiastic about including students in her campaign, which she demonstrated by working with DC Students Speak and appointing campus captains.