The campaign war chest for D.C. Council member Trayon White is running low, as the Ward 8 Democrat seeks a third term in office and a federal court date looms in his bribery case soon after next week’s election.

The White campaign has received only $2,000 this month — all of it contributed by the embattled lawmaker, who has ponied up more than $15,000 for his reelection bid, according to a campaign finance report filed Tuesday.

The campaign has raised $93,000 since it began, but the report shows that Mr. White has more than $45,000 in campaign-related debt. Roughly $30,000 of that is owed to vendors who have helped him on the trail. The councilman could be on the hook for paying back those vendors if his campaign can’t come up with the money.

Earlier this year, Mr. White was also underwater on $80,000 of unpaid debt related to his failed 2022 mayoral campaign and his 2020 reelection campaign. It’s unclear how much, if any, of that balance he has paid down.

Still, the 40-year-old Democrat is heavily favored to easily retain his council seat representing the District’s Southeast neighborhoods that have long struggled with crime and poverty.

Longtime political observers say the normally gregarious lawmaker with a knack for retail politics has been keeping a low profile on the campaign trail since his arrest in August.

There have been some sightings of Mr. White, such as when he showed up earlier this month to a crime scene in the Shipley neighborhood after three people were killed in a suspected arson attack.

He also joined a demonstration last week in the U Street Corridor — which is not in his ward — to protest the restaurant chain &pizza for its menu items that mocked the late Marion Barry’s drug scandal. Barry, who died in 2014, is considered Mr. White’s political mentor.

Yet appearances at candidate forums and impromptu gatherings have been scarce compared to years past, said the Rev. Wendy Hamilton, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Bellevue.

She said the only public event she’s seen the council member attend was a meeting with mothers and senior voters at the Congress Heights Senior Wellness Center.

While Mr. White has been quiet, other incumbents campaigning across the District have turned up the volume.

Council member Brooke Pinto, Ward 2 Democrat, had volunteers giving out signs at Volta Park earlier this month, while Robert White, at-large Democrat, is touting his endorsements from local newspaper The Georgetowner and the D.C. Association of Realtors.

Ms. Hamilton said the lack of true competition in Mr. White’s ward means the incumbent has Tuesday’s reelection sewed up, even with his recent problems.

Mr. White and Nate Derenge, a Republican, are the only two Ward 8 candidates who will be listed on Tuesday’s ballot.

Some spirited write-in campaigns have been launched, including from retired electrician Michael Brown, social services professional Khadijah Long and Olivia Henderson, a longtime former ANC commissioner in the ward who secured an endorsement from the Laborers’ International Union of North America last week.

But Mr. White is still the presumptive winner in the Ward 8 race. The city government is run almost entirely by Democrats.

Ms. Hamilton said the general feeling is that people will “hold their nose” and vote for Mr. White on Tuesday and then let either the D.C. Council investigation or the federal probe remove him from office at a later date.

“That seems to be the sort of overriding sentiment, and why he probably didn’t feel that compelled to get out there and campaign,” Ms. Hamilton said.

Mr. White was arrested in August after he was accused of accepting $156,000 in bribes in exchange for influencing city contracts. He pleaded not guilty to the charges last month.

He is scheduled to return to court Nov. 13, the week after Election Day.

The alleged bribery scheme may also shed light on the councilman’s financial troubles. Court documents say that Mr. White took about $35,000 from an FBI informant over the summer.

Previous media reports have tied Mr. White’s contributions to his reelection campaign to the timeframe he is accused of pocketing bribes.

The federal indictment has not accused him of using bribe money to fund his campaign. However, the arrest affidavit said Mr. White told the informant that he needed the cash because he was “hurting.”

The councilman’s decision to swap out his defense team for public defenders last week offered another indication that he is struggling financially.

Joyce Doyle, an ANC commissioner in Congress Heights, said Mr. White’s potential exit from public office could provide a jolt to Ward 8. She said the lawmaker’s political efforts often exclude the homeowners and business owners “who actually could contribute to creating a sustainable community here.”

The ANC commissioner said Mr. White has done little to improve Ward 8’s home values, which are precipitously lower than those in the rest of the city.

“That is an equity barrier that is being perpetuated by a Black man that is negatively impacting Black people,” said Ms. Doyle, who said she never voted for Mr. White.

The D.C. Council is expected to conclude its investigation into Mr. White in December. Federal prosecutors are looking to take the councilman to trial in July.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.