Homewood attacked in ad against Charles Allen, native on D.C. City Council

D.C. City Councilman Charles Allen grew up in Homewood and went to grad school at UAB.

A Homewood native who is now a member of the D.C. City Council is having his hometown attacked in an ad being run by his Democratic primary opponent.

Charles Allen, who is running for re-election on the D.C. Council for Ward 6, is portrayed as an outsider whose background contributed to economic and racial disparities in the district, according to the ad from opponent Lisa Hunter. The ad also takes a dig at Allen's predecessor, Homewood native Tommy Wells, whom Allen worked for as chief of staff before winning the seat in 2014.

"For 12 years, your D.C. councilmembers have been two men from Homewood, Alabama. They went to the same high school. They got elected off the same donor list," Hunter says in the ad. "In the 12 years we've been represented by Homewood, Alabama, we've seen some of the worst racial and economic disparities in the nation, and they keep growing."

Hunter speaks Spanish in part of the ad, which features an AL.com profile on Allen, and then says, "Because this isn't Homewood, Alabama. This is your ward."

Allen could not immediately be reached for comment, but the Homewood native told Washington City Paper it left him scratching his head, pointing out that Hunter is originally from Malibu, California.

"It's a strange line of attack from someone who moved here from Malibu," he told the paper. "It just seems odd to criticize the voters' will."

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