Calvin H. Gurley

Early years Gurley was raised in Washington, D.C. Gurley attended Eastern High School, where he played defensive back on the football team.

Political campaigns 1986 campaign for Mayor Gurley announced his candidacy for mayor of the District of Columbia in 1986. Unemployed and living in Anacostia, Gurley ran as a Democratic candidate, challenging Marion Barry's reelection. Gurley described the office as "a solution in search of a problem". The audience loudly booed him for his statement. Gurley said he would decrease the crime rate by increasing funding for job training. At another campaign stop, Gurley said that vacant houses should be renovated more quickly and that new housing developments should have more homes available for low- and middle-income residents. Gurley criticized Barry for sending his son to a private school. Gurley said that the District had not improved at all during the previous four years, with the exception of downtown. In the straw vote, Barry received 74 percent, candidate Mattie Taylor received 16 percent, and Gurley received 9 percent.

At a debate held in March, Gurley advocated for a publicly funded military school for youths in order to prevent drug use. In Gurley's words, the District should "grab these kids off the street from mothers who don't care" and enroll them at the military academy.

In August, Gurley dropped out of the race in order to run for the Ward 6 seat on the Council of the District of Columbia.

1990 campaign for Council, Ward 6 At the time of Gurley's candidacy to represent Ward 6 on the Council of the District of Columbia,

Gurley continued to support the establishment of a public military school for youth in the District. Gurley wanted police officers to walk the streets in order to stop individuals from loitering.

If approved by voters, all child-support payments would end when they became 18 years old, rather than 21 years old as District law stated.

Paul R. McKenzie won the seat with 42 percent of the vote. Gurley came in fourth place with 13 percent. Gurley did have enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot, so he decided to run as a write-in candidate instead. Write-in candidates received 0.19 percent of the vote; some of these were for Gurley. Gurley, Sekou Biddle, former Council member Vincent Orange, and several others filed to run.

At a debate before the District of Columbia Democratic State Committee, Gurley said that when companies hire people who live outside the District, it is like "genocide".

Kwame Brown endorsed Biddle for the position, as did Council members Harry Thomas Jr., Mary Cheh, Muriel Bowser, Yvette Alexander, and Marion Barry.

On January 6, 2011, the District of Columbia Democratic State Committee voted to select Biddle as the interim at-large member of the council. Vote tallies were not publicly reported.

Gurley, Sekou Biddle, Vincent Orange, Patrick Mara, and several others filed to run.

Gurley did not appear on the ballot because he did not submit enough valid signatures to the District of Columbia Board of Elections.

2012 campaign for Council, Ward 4 Gurley ran for the Council again in 2012, this time to represent Ward 4.

In the Democratic Party primary election held in January 2012, Muriel Bowser won with 66 percent of the vote.

Gurley filed to run a special election for the position of Council Chair that was held in November 2012. Phil Mendelson and Gurley were the only two candidates on the ballot.

Gurley said that the District did a good job by warning the public about the dangers of Hurricane Sandy. Gurley said that the District should open a Disaster Emergency Management Assistance Office that would distribute power generators and subsidize hotel stays during emergency storms. Gurley was the only donor. Gurley received 28 percent of the vote.

2014 campaign for Council, Chair Gurley filed to run again for Chair of the council in the 2014 election. Gurley and Mendelson were the only candidates on the ballot in the Democratic Party primary election.

Gurley and other candidates were invited to speak at a meeting of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the largest LGBT political organization in the District. Gurley did not address any issues specific to LGBT individuals. The group asked District residents to "vote no on Phil Mendelson", but it did not actually endorse Gurley. Gurley changed his voter registration to unaffiliated and filed to run for an at-large seat on the council.

Gurley said the District government should create and maintain its public housing. The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance graded Gurley a 2 out of a possible 10 points. Brandon Todd ran for reelection. Leon Andrews and Ron Austin were also candidates. Gurley blamed Todd for not addressing the issue. The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance rated Gurley's responses with a score of 3.5 out of 10 points. Gurley came in fourth place with 3 percent of the vote. Gurley ran against incumbent Phil Mendelson.

2020 campaign for Council, At-large Gurley ran as an independent for an at-large seat on the Council. He came in 19th place, receiving 0.6% of the vote.

2022 campaign for Council, At-large In June 2022, Gurley picked up paperwork to run as an independent for the at-large seats on the Council, running against incumbents Elissa Silverman and Anita Bonds.

Activism Between 1987 and 1988, Gurley served as the president of the Fairlawn Civic Association, where he helped establish neighborhood patrols.

Gurley served as the executive director of Mothers of Lost Sons in 1988. The group was primarily made of people whose relatives were recently murdered.

1990 primary election

2004 primary election

2012 special election

2014 primary election

2014 general election

2016 primary election

2020 general election