Some Ward 4 residents wouldn’t reveal whether they supported Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, D.C.  Council Chair Vincent C. Gray or another candidate, but they were open about why they voted.

“No, that’s private,” said Adam Hansford, a 12-year resident of Ward 4, when asked to disclose who he voted for on Tuesday. However, he didn’t shy away from giving his reasons for participating in the primary.

“There are a number of things,” said Hansford, glancing at his 15-year-old daughter. “First, I would have to say is the school system in general.”

Michael and Brandi Knowlin, three-year residents of Ward 4, didn’t mind saying they voted for Mayor Fenty. The couple’s views of Fenty differed from those of Hansford. “I have no complaints thus far,” says Michael, while looking down at his toddler-age son trying to get out of his stroller.

For Khadijah Muhammad, a seven-year Ward 4 resident, voting for a mayoral candidate was not a matter of who had the most appealing campaign flyers or shirts, but who was willing to improve

employment in the district.

“The treatment of employees within the last two years is unimaginable,” said Muhammmad, a D.C. government employee. Muhammad wouldn’t disclose whom she voted for, but she did say “both candidates have flaws.”

Alycia Williams, a six-year district resident who has lived in Ward 4 for a year, said it was important to vote because “there have been a lot of changes in D.C. in the past couple years.” Williams didn’t reveal her  vote, but said that her candidate is “evaluating all options instead of making a change for the sake of making change.”

Williams and Knowlin both agreed that the media played a role in this campaign season. “You don’t always hear both sides equally, because of certain papers’ endorsements,” Williams said, referring to the Washington Post.

Knowlin said that some of Fenty’s interviews “put him in a bad light,” but that it didn’t matter if Gray won. “It’s not much the mayor can really do in D.C.,” Knowlin said. “Congress really makes all the decisions.”

Darcelle Beaty, a Ward 4 resident since 1992 and Gray supporter, said that Fenty lost sight of the people in D.C. but that if he was re-elected, “it would be okay, maybe if he learned his lesson.”

 “Sometimes it takes getting kicked in your tail.”