This post was written by Hatchet Staff Writer Justin Kits

D.C. Councilmember and GW law professor Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, endorsed GW alumnus and Chairman of the D.C. Council Vincent Gray’s campaign for mayor Thursday, a key endorsement for the mayoral hopeful.

Speaking on TBD NewsTalk Live Thursday morning, Cheh said “I voted for Vince Gray. I’m going to support Vince Gray, and I hope the residents of my Ward and around the District also support Vince Gray.”

“Having worked with him over the past four years shoulder to shoulder, I have become an admirer,” said Cheh, who will begin campaigning for Gray in Ward 3 Thursday. “He’s a man of integrity. He is thoughtful. He is intelligent. It’s not just rhetoric when he talks about ‘one city.’ He really wants to bring the city together.”

Cheh, who supported Gray’s opponent when he ran for Council chair in 2006, said she was originally skeptical of Gray’s leadership ability. She said that after working with Gray, however, she is now comfortable with his leadership skills.

Cheh called Gray “the mayor we need now.”

During the interview on TBD, Cheh also criticized Mayor Adrian Fenty’s governing style.

“Instead of opening the door, the door is shut,” Cheh said.  “We have a democracy, not an autocracy.  We have a situation where we want transparency and openness. We cannot have a system that we have now of secrecy, closed doors, and decisions by one.  It’s not enough anymore, the way we are going.”

The Fenty campaign responded to the endorsement by attacking Cheh for going against the wants of her constituents.

“Mary Cheh has chosen to align herself against education reform, against public safety, and against the improvements of the last three years,” Sean Madigan, a Fenty spokesman, told The Washington Post.  “More importantly, she has shown she is more interested in cutting political deals than in listening to her neighbors.”

Traci Hughes, a Gray spokeswoman, said she was unsurprised that Fenty’s campaign would lash out at Cheh for holding differing views.  She added that it was a shame they were attacking Cheh for simply choosing a candidate that wasn’t the mayor.

Cheh could not be reached for comment.