Former D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown launches congressional bid

The big picture: Norton told Axios last year that she will run for an 18th term this year, despite questions over her age at 86.

• Brown would be the first relatively well-known challenger against Norton in a long time. He enters a crowded field of several other candidates.

What they're saying: "We are under attack," Brown told the Post. "Not just on Capitol Hill, but from the surrounding jurisdictions outwardly trying to take our businesses. And we have to put up a fight."

Flashback: Brown last toyed with a return in 2019, doing playful TV appearances to rehabilitate his image. But he decided against running for the D.C. Council.

• He served as an at-large council member from 2009 to 2013. Brown admitted to accepting $55,000 over a series of meetings with undercover agents in exchange for help in getting government approvals for business dealings.
• In 2014, he was sentenced to over three years in prison and was released early in 2016.

• Brown said at the time that he was "caught up in a culture of corruption running rampant in our city," the Post reported. Former council chair Kwame Brown and Ward 5 council member Harry Thomas Jr., who recently attempted a political comeback, were also charged during that period.

The intrigue: Brown's name has had staying power in unexpected ways.

• A curious case of mistaken identity may have helped another individual, Michael D. Brown, win term after term as ceremonial shadow senator with strong support from Black communities, as chronicled in the Post in 2018.
• Many people believe Michael D. Brown benefited from sharing a first and last name with the more prominent former council member.