The Wire: City Hall / Characters

"Money launderin'!? They gonna come talk to me about Money launderin'!? In West Baltimore?! Sheeeeit, where do you think I'm gonna raise cash for the whole damn ticket!? From laundromats and shit!? From some tiny-ass Korean groceries?! You think I got time to ask a man why he given me money or where he gets his money from?! I'll take any motherfucker's money if he's givin' it away!"

—Maryland State Senator Clayton Davis

At the root of why nothing can ever get done in Baltimore, and, by extension, America, City Hall tells the story of Baltimore's political leaders and their Byzantine efforts at backstabbing and career advancement. City Hall is explored through the eyes of Democratic Councilman Tommy Carcetti, who achieves a feat most of the Democratic Party think impossible by winning election as the white mayor of a majority black city. Despite his initial idealism, he is unable to leverage his electoral success into political success, being forced to back up on his promises for the sake of his career. The City Hall storyline is an examination of the corruption at the heart of Baltimore political system and how internal reformers are either forced into resignation, acquiescence, or corruption.

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R. Clayton "Clay" Davis

Played by: Isaiah Whitlock Jr

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/claydavis_3096.jpg

"Sheeeeeeeit"

Fool, what do you think? That we know anything about who gives money? That we give a damn about who they are or what they want? We have no way of running down them or their stories. We don't care. We just cash the damn cheques, count the votes and move on.

Maryland state senator. Corrupt doesn't begin to describe him. He takes bribes from many sources, including the Barksdale organization under Stringer Bell, and does patronage and fundraising in return, when he doesn't simply fleece them. Two simultaneous investigations, one by the Major Crimes department of the Baltimore Police, the other by the FBI, are focused on him. Neither succeeds in bringing him down.

Ascended Extra: Introduced in Season 1 as a One-Scene Wonder before playing a bigger role in the later seasons.
The Bad Guy Wins: He's a compulsive conman with strings everywhere and a silver tongue. By his own wits, he is able to overturn a charge of corruption brought by the Baltimore D.A., who wanted to shine at his expense; unwittingly, the failed prosecution also brought down the federal syndication that the FBI wanted to pin on him.
Blackmail: On the receiving end, he for once gets outconned, by Lester, who threatens to go Federal with some major, undisclosed evidence unless Davis provides some information. Little the Senator knows that the Atorney General had already turned down the case after the fiasco in the local court made Davis a hero.
Catchphrase: "Sheeeeeeeeiiiiiiit." Sometimes he elaborates a bit to say "some shameful shit", in a more articulate way.
Chewbacca Defense: Makes bullshit arguments in court. He still charms the audience in the room through hinging on Refuge in Audacity.
Con Man: In all but name. A real shakedown artist.
Norman: He's slick, apologizes for the short con and in the next breath setting us up for the long.
Consummate Liar: Clay Davis is sleazy but when he talks he is able to make anyone from gangsters to grand jury to believe him with words alone. He can say he gave away all of city hall's fund money to single mothers and desperate children without any evidence to back him up and no one will argue about it.
Crocodile Tears: Sheds them in court during his last speech, it's enough to get him acquitted.
Corrupt Politician: "Corrupt" doesn't begin to describe him.
Everything Is Racist: Spins the investigation into his corruption into an inspiring narrative of his own victimization at the hands of villainous whiteys and Uncle Toms in the State's Attorney's office. Depressingly, it works.
Gus Haynes: 45 inches of Clay Davis playing not just the race card but the whole deck, coming at ya.
Faux Affably Evil: Keeps the veneer of amicability of a snake oil salesman. It usually falls the moment things start to go against him.
Feigning Intelligence: Brings a copy of Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus, to his trial. He tells reporters that he relates to this story of a man punished by the Powers That Be for helping the people - and in the process mispronounces both Prometheus and Aeschylus, suggesting that he has never read or discussed the book.
- Alternatively his mispronounciation of the two names might be deliberate posing, in order to make him more relatable to his largely un- or undereducated voter base.
Jerkass: Mantains a slimy, non-confrontational persona most of the time, but he breaks his façade sometimes during his rants, for instance, when Daniels doesn't cave in, Davis calls him a motherfucker whilst he is in the room, among other insults.
Jerkass Has a Point: Sleazebag he is, Clay is right that he has had influence in Ervin Burrell being bumped up the ranks to become Commissioner and that Burrell not doing anything to help Clay is unfair, at least within the context of "backroom deal morality".
Karma Houdini: Not only he escapes punishment, his position is reinforced after he's acquitted.
First Deputy: You city sons of bitches have managed, in a single week, to transform Clay fucking Davis into Martin Luther King Jr.
Large Ham: Especially theatrical by season 4.
Manipulative Bastard: When he is put on in Season 5, he easily charms the Baltimore jury into believing that his theft of money from his charity organizations was for a good cause, and is acquitted.
Playing Both Sides: What's better than soliciting bribes from a political candidate? Soliciting bribes from two.
Playing the Victim Card: In the stairs of the courtroom and then inside of it. He portrays himself as a man of the people who is like Prometheus, a victim of the vengeful gods in a Greek tragedy. Gus Haynes at the Baltimore Sun even lampshades this by saying Davis played "not just the race card but the whole deck."
Snake Oil Salesman: Solicits bribes from Stringer, promising to advance his real estate investments, but doesn't actually do anything once he gets them.
Levy: He rainmade you. A guy says if you pay him, he can make it rain. You pay him. If and when it rains, he takes the credit. If and when it doesn’t, he finds reasons for you to pay him more.
Sleazy Politician: In addition to his criminality, he's pretty scummy in his personal life as well.
Slime Ball: An amalgamation of everything that's wrong inside the political machine.
The One Who Made It Out: Clay tells Avon during a meeting in the club that he came from the projects too but became a politician.
Verbal Tic: Addressing his victims as "partner". An intentional, reassuring pet word.
Villainous Breakdown: Delivers angry rants to his political cronies whenever he's under scrutiny. He loses it during Carcetti's term when he begins to realize he's sinking with no rope or allies in reach, but he quickly pulls himself together to present his usual slimy public persona.
Villain with Good Publicity: So good that it helps him get acquitted of fraud charges.

Tommy Carcetti

Played by: Aidan Gillen

"I wake up white, in a city that ain't."

Yummy, my first bowl of shit.

A Democratic Baltimore city councilman whose tremendous competence is matched only by his extreme ambition, Carcetti fondly dreams of supplanting Mayor Royce and cleaning up Baltimore. Throughout Season 3, despite Royce apparently having a solid grip on the office of Mayor and being in a position to easily defeat would-be rivals, Carcetti nonetheless comes to believe that Royce is vulnerable and slowly begins putting together an operation that will allow him to challenge Royce. Carcetti gets his chance as the rise in violent crime, the killing of a key state's witness due to the lack of proper witness protection, and the political storm that is Hamsterdam all come together at once and undermine Royce's position.

In Season 4 a number of factors work in Carcetti's favor and he pulls off an upset, defeating Royce in the election and becoming mayor. Once in office, with his advisors Norman and Steintorf, he seeks out people he can trust within city government, particularly the police force so he can accomplish his goals for reform. After some time in office, however, Carcetti's grand ambitions come crashing to the ground when it's revealed that financial legerdemain had been used to to hide a massive deficit in the school budget. The best chance for fixing this hole in the city's budget is to accept help from the Republican governor of Maryland, but the governor (who sees Carcetti as a potential rival) humiliates Carcetti and attaches conditions to his help that would crush Carcetti's chances of challenging him the way Carcetti challenged Royce. Carcetti, already feeling the heat from the next mayoral election, (where he won't have factors working in his favor as he did against Royce) refuses to accept the governor's bailout and takes the money mostly from the police force instead, which makes his vision for a reformed and better police force impossible.

Season 5 sees Carcetti increasingly ground down by his attempts to run the city and morally compromised as he tries to deal with the various corrupt politicians and broken institutions around him. He is unable to fulfill most of the promises he made to his allies and constituents, but he does manage to capitalize on McNulty's fake serial killer, and when he runs against the governor Carcetti uses the "serial killer" as a key issue, attacking his Republican opponent's positions on homelessness and the poor. At the end of the season he wins the governor's race, leaving behind the city with most of his goals unaccomplished and what good he has managed to do is in a position to easily to be reversed by his highly corrupt successor to the job of mayor, Nerese Campbell.

Ambition Is Evil: Played with. When forced to choose between helping the city he was elected to save and his own political ambitions, he chooses the latter, by deciding not to take money to cover the city's budget deficit from the state because doing so will hurt his chances of being elected governor. However, the series makes the argument that it is the political system which corrupts politicians rather than the other way around.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Becomes Mayor only to be hit with a financial deficit which he spends nearly every waking hour trying to plug up.
Became Their Own Antithesis: Starts off as an idealistic crusader determined to clean up Baltimore's corruption. A year in the mayor's office molds him into a self-serving politician who's forgotten everything that he stood for.
Beleaguered Bureaucrat: For a while and also a consequence of his own ambition; he has good intentions but not the political clout or the funds to implement them.
Big Good: At first he's set up as possibly being this, but it's ultimately subverted.
The Casanova: Initially his early scenes paint him as a Kennedy-esque skirt-chaser and he was a "gash hound" in the past, but later subverted as he's not shown being unfaithful to his wife during the rest of his story arc, even turning down attempts to seduce him. It turns out that pride and vanity are his cardinal sins rather than lust.
The Chains of Commanding: Present and discussed several times. As a previous white mayor puts it, governing the city means eating shit from one community or another, day in and day out.
Corrupt the Cutie: While highly ambitious and imperfect, he still starts out with a degree of idealism and a seemingly genuine belief in turning Baltimore around, but is fast sucked into the dirty world of politics.
David vs. Goliath: A white "boy" beats the seemingly invincible two-term incumbent black mayor.
Diabolus ex Machina: Is hit with one in the form of a crippling and previously unrevealed massive deficit in the school budget, inherited from the previous administration. It sinks his reformist agenda.
Establishing Character Moment: In the end of the third episode in which he appears Carcetti committs adultery with an unnamed woman he meets at a political event, staring at himself in the mirror as he does so. Though it seems at the time to be a throwaway scene, it actually serves to highlight Carcetti's narcissism and willingness to break promises for personal gain, both character traits which play a role in his later tenure as mayor. The scene receives a Call-Back in season five, when Carcetti watches news coverage of himself making a grandstanding political speech with a similarly rapturous expression on his face.
Face–Heel Turn: Mildly and realistically so. He doesn't so much go from Ideal Hero to utter villain as go from an flawed and ambitious but well meaning reformer to just another mostly self-interested politician.
Handsome Lech: He has his boyish good looks and was initially The Casanova in the past, but he doesn't cheat on his wife once he's in power.
He Who Fights Monsters: He eventually becomes a downplayed monster himself.
Internal Reformist: Tries to be one and changes some things with his initial élan, but eventually gets assimilated by the game.
Naïve Newcomer: Though he's not politically unexperienced, he discovers that being a Councilman and governing as the mayor are two different beasts. He learns what a minefield City Hall is and that implementing a policy is like turning an Ocean liner, even if there's the chance to do it, it takes a lot of time to change course.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He bears some resemblances to real-life former Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley, though Simon has said the character was based on a number of Baltimore politicians, most of whom are too obscure to be recognizable to viewers.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: He increasingly becomes something of this status as the story goes on.
Pet the Dog: On an epic scale during his Baltimore cleaning spree. During his first days in office he tricks or cajoles multiple city departments that had been content to let the city go to the dumps while doing the bare minimum needed to get paid (if that) into going on a full scale city cleanup.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's one at first after becoming mayor, but numerous factors and people rise up to cause him tremendous problems until his focus turns solely to his own political survival.
Rousing Speech: He gives a few of them, usually of the self-serving variety.
Sir Swearsalot: While everyone except Omar swears a lot in this show, Tommy is particularly foul-mouthed with c-bombs as well as f-bombs.
Sleazy Politician: Eventually turns into one, though not without his hand being forced by the considerably sleazier Nerese Campbell and the king of sleaze himself, Clay Davis.
Build something downtown and stick your name on it, get the crime to go down, and stay away from schools. And keep my boyish good looks... One out of four ain't bad.
Somebody Doesn't Love Raymond: Implied. His Pride and self-serving nature often leads him to want to be seen as a good guy. Most notable in his attempt to apologize to Colvin for how the Hamsterdam experiment fell apart. Furthermore, its never made clear if he knew Steintorf reintroduced the stats game or if he had Steintorf do it in his place in order to look good to Daniels.
Took a Level in Jerkass: He becomes more and more of a Jerkass as the stress of campaigning and then running the city wears on him.

Clarence Royce

Played by: Glynn Turman

"Nobody here wants to do a real job."

Next year? For some things, that's a long time to wait.

Deeply corrupt mayor of Baltimore. His administration has seen a dramatic rise in violent crime, which he seeks to patch over as best he can. Major Colvin's experiment in establishing drug-free zones causes crime to drop, and he makes the mistake of delaying action in bringing them to an end. When exposed, Carcetti campaigns against him for allowing them, and beats him in the mayoral election.

Affably Evil: A corrupt mayor who's also quite personable and a Graceful Loser. He even tries to give Hamsterdam a shot, but is forced to backpedal to avoid being crushed in the election.
Badass Boast: What he says regarding Carcetti challenging him.
He wants to go big dick with me? I'll give him one he can't handle!
Cultural Posturing: During the Democratic primary campaign against the white Carcetti his staff prints up posters using African colors in an effort to appeal to racial solidarity.
David vs. Goliath: A two-term incumbent black mayor with massive resources and support from the political machine. He loses against a white newcomer.
Graceful Loser: After losing the primaries, Royce invites Carcetti to the office, has a friendly chat with him and makes him try the mayoral chair.
Interrupted Intimacy: Herc catches him getting a blowjob from his secretary. In response, Royce buys Herc's silence with a promotion to Sergeant.
Let the Bully Win: Regularly organizes poker games with rich big shots who lose deliberately in order to fill the mayor's pockets. They accept it as part of the game, but are not happy about how much they have to lose in order to appease him.
Mayor Pain: Subverted; at first he's presented as too venal and incompetent to do anything about Baltimore's problems but Carcetti's arc reveals that it's the system rather than the person at the top of it that's most responsible for the city's plight.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: An example in which he's for once on the wrong end is when he loses the primaries as the direct consequence of allowing the highly successful Hamsterdam experiment to continue.
Pet the Dog:
- One of the very few times during his stint as mayor when he isn't being a blatantly corrupt and self-serving politician is when he tries to make Hamsterdam work. When Royce sees the difference it makes in the crime rate, he's frantic to find some way to make use of it without admitting that it's essentially drug legalization, and he does so despite warnings from advisors that it will get him and the city in trouble with the federal government.
- After a ridiculously dirty and ugly campaign race against Carcetti, as soon as Royce loses he's nothing but gracious and welcoming to Carcetti.
Slave to PR: His reaction to Hamsterdam comes off as self-serving but somewhat redeeming, but once it is exposed on television and becomes a major PR disaster he quickly shuts it down.
Sleazy Politician: Not as bad as Clay Davis, but that's not saying much. By any reasonable standard, Royce is pretty unethical.

Coleman Parker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_wire_parker.jpg

Played by: Cleo Reginald Pizana

Royce's second-in-command and organizer of his re-election campaign.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Towards Earvin Burrell. Burrell is the pin cushion of the Royce administration until he learns better and stabs them back. Burrell's reaction is so unexpected that Parker even feigns shock at Burrell daring to do so.
The Consigliere: To Mayor Royce; quite literally the voice of reason in his cabinet, Royce's mistake was stopping listening to him.
The Dragon
Foil: To Norman Wilson during the election campaign. They are the men who babysit the two candidates throughout the process, though Parker has less moral walls to surpass as a longtime member of an established corrupt administration.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: While Burrell is the obstruction to proper policing within the police department, Parker and Royce are the obstructions of Burrell.
Punch-Clock Villain: After Carcetti chooses to let the schools rot rather than go cap-in-hand to Annapolis, he drinks with Norman in a downtown bar, and his conversation reveals that politics is just a job for him, and that he doesn't get personally invested in it. He advises Norman to do the same, since politicians "always disappoint".
Yes-Man: While being one, Parker is the enforcer of making a yes-man of everyone else under Royce and also tries to make Royce himself one for the sake of the re-election. It doesn't go well for him.

Norman Wilson

Played by: Reg E. Cathey

"I wish I was still at the newspaper so I could write on this mess."

The people running your campaign are professionals, Tommy. Don't try this shit at home.

Tommy Carcetti's deputy campaign manager, and later, his right hand man. He is brutally honest, keeping Carcetti in line and his feet on the ground.

invoked Actually Pretty Funny: Laughs his ass off when the true nature of the serial killer is exposed, despite Carcetti calling up Dude, Not Funny!
Brutal Honesty: Speaks his mind quite freely. The most notable case is when, while being the one of the main advisors for Carcetti's campaign, Norman tells Carcetti that Norman has no plans of voting for him.
The Consigliere
Cynical Mentor: Shows Carcetti the ropes in a very realistic, almost jaded way.
Deadpan Snarker
Foil: To Coleman Parker, Royce's second-in-comand during the election as Carcetti's man-behind-the-man; later, when Carcetti is elected he becomes one to Michael Steintorf in the Mayor's cabinet.
Honest Advisor: To Carcetti. Norman has no problem criticizing the mayor.
Carcetti: Say it, Norman, you're thinking it. Truth to power, Norman. Isn't that what I keep you around for?
Intrepid Reporter: His backstory. He laments he can't publish the sordid but juicy stuff that he experiences as a City Hall insider.
Knight in Sour Armor: Becomes disillusioned by Carcetti putting his ambitions ahead of the city, but keeps working for him to speak truth to power and to do what he can to make sure he fulfills his campaign promises.
Servile Snarker

Nerese Campbell

Played by: Marlene Afflack

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neresecampbel1l_7830.jpg

"It was supposed to be my turn!"

Clay, it is what it is.

President of the Baltimore City Council. When Carcetti is elected mayor, she is immediately hostile to him because she was understood to be next in line after Royce. He proves to be pliable, and she comes around to pulling strings for him, though she scuttles many of his planned projects. She is elected mayor after Carcetti.

Blackmail: Burrell hands over the dossier on Daniels to her, a card she uses to coerce the Commissioner.
Changing of the Guard: She finally succeeds Royce when Carcetti becomes governor.
Commander Contrarian:
- To Carcetti in the worst, most politically cynical way possible. When Carcetti is looking for advice about what to do regarding the school budget and whether he should take the governor's money and looks around the room for advice, Campbell flat out tells him not to look to her for advice, because regardless of what he does she'll use it to attack him in the next election when she plans to run against him. It's something of a running theme with the two.
- She becomes the contrarian to Cedric Daniels. She argues that if he doesn't come into the fold, she will sling as much mud as she can to him; the mud, she obtained from Burrell as it turns out. Not for long, though. He refuses to remain Commissioner because with Campbell holding his leash there's nothing Daniels can do to improve the BPD anyway.
Even Evil Has Standards: When Carcetti suggests building a casino in Baltimore, she joins Bond in arguing forcefully against it.
The Fixer: Cutting backroom deals to head off problems is one of Nerese's great talents. See how she manages to talk Burrell into leaving the post of Commissioner gracefully, and later convinces a panicking Clay Davis out of trying to save himself by spilling the beans on all the dirty dealings in City Hall.
Foil: As the last surviving counselor from Royce's administration, her role is to be the opposition leader during Carcetti's term. Quite literally the black voice on a white administration.
Informed Attractiveness: Courtesy of Herc: "Council President's hot as balls!". Not that he's wrong...
Iron Lady: Very much. She does not ever betray a smile and always goes for the jugular.
Irony: She's furious that Carcetti and Gray tried to run against Royce when she was Royce's presumed successor, and that Carcetti actually managed to do it successfully. Because of that she will undermine and backstab Carcetti in any way possible and at every opportunity, yet she notes that she's actually glad not to be mayor because then she'd have to deal with the all but intractable problems left behind by the Royce administration. That does absolutely nothing to alleviate her vendetta, however.
Karma Houdini: Another schemer who doesn't get any major comeuppance.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Based on the very shady Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon, city council president when O'Malley was mayor and his successor when he became governor.^note
Obstructive Bureaucrat
Passed-Over Promotion: She is not happy about Carcetti's rising, as it was assumed she would be Royce's heir apparent. Carcetti points out that it is extremely arrogant of her to assume that all of City Hall would be privy to a backroom handshake deal she made with Royce. She's still going to torpedo his plans to improve the city out of spite.
Sleazy Politician: Possibly the worst one next to Clay Davis and very good at intrigue.

Michael Steintorf

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steintorf.jpg

Played by: Neal Huff

Kids don't vote.

Carcetti's chief of staff. A realist, he lets Carcetti know that many of his plans are infeasible. Later, he pressures Daniels to alter crime statistics.

The Consigliere: A less principled and more Machiavellian version of Norman Wilson.
Foil: His input and opinions are polar opposites of Norman Wilson's in Carcetti's cabinet. While they do impede each other, there is usually no resentment between the two.
The Man Behind the Man: Regularly behind the scenes making deals or implementing shady policies to protect and insulate the mayor.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Reintroduces the infamous stats game in the fight against crime.
Realpolitik: He wholeheartedly and ruthlessly embraces this outlook, and the advice he gives to Carcetti reflects this. The most prominent example is when he cynically tells Carcetti not to politically weaken himself in order to help the schools because "Kids don't vote."

Andy Krawczyk

Played by: Michael Willis

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bignegrobiggun1_6599.jpg

"Black. Big. With a large weapon."

Rawls: Mayor's office already called twice, worried sick about the man. That's a whole lotta campaign contributions sitting on the back of that ambo.

Krawczyk is a major behind the scenes player in Baltimore as he's the President of the Baltimore City School Board, an influential real estate developer and political fund raiser. He's also strongly implied to be corrupt and appears to take part in the White-Collar Crime perpetuated by other corrupt legal and political figures such as Clay Davis, although he is never explicitly seen to do so. He is an enemy to the dockworkers, as he spends season 2 pushing to have the grain pier on the docks torn down and used for real estate development while they're trying to revitalize it and use it as a way to increase activity on the docks, and he works as a real estate consultant to Stringer Bell.

Ambiguously Evil: Neither the police or the viewers themselves ever catch him doing anything unquestionably corrupt, but when you consider that he's the president of a school board that has somehow mysteriously lost millions of dollars and is letting brand new books and equipment sit in the basement while the students get by with books that are several editions older, (which could be simple mismanagement, or it could be similar to a 2013 California case where workers at several school districts were stealing and then reselling new textbooks) that he's doing consulting work with people like Stringer and Avon who are pretty clearly drug dealers or some other type of criminal, that he's working with Clay Davis as part of Davis' con on Stringer and subtly pushes Stringer towards giving Davis money, and Levy's warning to Marlo^quote it becomes possible that Andy K, despite flying under the radar and never explicitly breaking the law, may just be the dirtiest player in the whole game.
Chekhov's Gunman: He gets introduced and talked about a lot in season 2, along with some on screen time, before he gets set up for a much larger role in the city in seasons 3 and 4.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Not portrayed openly corrupt à la Clay Davis, but his familiarity with the political machine all but states it.
Implausible Deniability: Always makes sure to keep at least some layer of it ready for his defense, and thanks to his connections as long as he has that he's a Karma Houdini for his corruption.
Det. Holley: Are you aware that Russell Bell was regarded as a major narcotics violator? [Krawczyk shakes head]
Bunk: How do you think he made his money?
Krawczyk: I didn't inquire.
Odd Friendship: With Valchek. The two Poles seem surprisingly friendly despite Valchek's jerkass ways, and Krawczyk calls Valchek by a pet name when the two are discussing the situation about the docks.
Valchek: (to Prez) And because I have Andy Krawczyk's ear, and because he has City Hall's ear, you're gonna make Sergeant.
The Rival: To the stevedores, as his grain pier condominium project competes against the remodelation of the docks.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: As with every major donor, money is power, to the point where the entire Royce administration freaks out at the thought of anything happening to him, and he can be involved with various major pieces of corruption and skate away from it without ever even being seriously questioned.
Stealing from the Till: Although unconfirmed, Krawczyk likely used his position on the school board to embezzle money from the schools, given the mysterious and huge hole in the school board budget and the misused/misappropriated equipment that Prez finds in the school basement.
Suspect Is Hatless: Helps the police with a gloriously useless description of Omar.
I told you I saw only the one. I know he was black. Big, I thought. With a large weapon.
White-Collar Crime: Probably the best one in the show by never doing anything outrightly illegal, and if he does, he has enough clout and finesse to escape justice.

Odell Watkins

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_wire_watkins.jpg

Played by: Frederick Strother

I hear you took a swipe at Hizzoner the other day on that witness murder. You keep on it, Councilman. A little smack here and there does this administration a world of good.

State delegate, major Baltimore political figure, and member of the influential State Appropriations Committee. He's something of a moral voice of authority within the circles of Baltimore politics as he has the full support of the religious leaders, looks to address the concerns of the citizens in a decent way and is critical of political corruption.

The Conscience: Tries to keep the Royce administration morally balanced.
Eating the Eye Candy: He definitely gives every woman around at least some lecherous looks, if not more.
The Fettered: One of the more principled members of Royce's camp.
Good Is Impotent: Despite his best attempts, there is precious little he can do to actually keep the Royce administration working for the people of Baltimore. Eventually he gets fed up enough to switch to Carcetti, only to helplessly watch as Carcetti's ambition, the problems left over from the Royce administration, and the system itself corrupt Carcetti and make his tenure little better than Royce's.
Kingmaker Scenario: Thanks to his influence and resources, getting his endorsement can be the deciding factor in who wins a close race. When Royce aggravates Watkins into storming away, an alarmed Parker immediately points out that they need Watkins and chases after the State delegate, trying to plead with him to come back into the fold. When Carcetti later wins Watkins's support, it becomes one of a group of factors that helps put Carcetti over the top.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Finally becomes so infuriated with the Royce administration and Royce's double dealing that he starts to go into one of these, but he's so furious and frustrated that halfway through it he can't even go on naming all of Royce's faults and settles for a Precision F-Strike. Royce's dismissive, smug reaction to Odell's speech was the final straw, convincing Odell that tough love wouldn't do anything.
You've forgotten your agenda. You've forgotten your base. You think a shave and some Marcus Garvey posters are gonna get you over? You think that's going to make up for getting in bed with every damn developer? Shit, you're even on Clay Davis' tit! ... You... the trouble with you... fuck you, Clarence. I'm gonna sit what's left of this one out.
Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the few public figures who genuinely cares about and works for his constituents. A true leader of the community who provides actual help to Colvin and Cutty.
Twofer Token Minority: Black and handicapped.

Theresa D'Agostino

Played by: Brandy Burre

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/terrydagostino3_4589.jpg

"You know, when I took this job, you promised me a win bonus."

He's taking on a two-term incumbent. It's all gonna be ugly from here.

A Washington-based political consultant and campaign fixer. She grew up in Baltimore and was a schoolmate of Carcetti in college, where it's hinted that they had a relationship. When Tommy first tells her of his intention to challenge Royce to an election she's extremely dubious of his chances and all too aware of the uphill battle being waged, but agrees to become his strategy manager due to the possible recognition it will win her if they can pull off the upset.

But Now I Must Go: Leaves Carcetti's camp and returns to Washington with a higher profile to work for the DCCC after her success in Baltimore.
The Chessmaster: In the world of political maneuvering and campaigning she's an ace who knows all the tricks and sees several moves ahead.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Averted. After finding her too distant and cold, McNulty does make an effort to connect with her, but they live in two separate worlds. When he thinks she's finally warming up to him he realizes that she's pumping him for information on Major Colvin and Hamsterdam, and promptly storms away.
The Fixer: Of the political variety.
Old Flame: It's suggested that she and Carcetti were more than friends in the past. She tries to light it again after his victory, but Carcetti turns her down, much to her surprise.
Saying Too Much: She falls into this trap when trying to pump McNulty for information about Hamsterdam. When McNulty doesn't initially respond to her probing, she claims that someone she knows in Washington told her about it and drops Major Colvin's name to try to prod him along. McNulty immediately calls bullshit, saying that he seriously doubts any political bigwig in D.C. would know the name of a mid-level Baltimore police commander.
Temporary Love Interest: McNulty of all people, is hers. He picks her up during an event. Halfway through, it turns out it's McNulty who got picked up. They are utterly incompatible.
Uptown Girl: McNulty is just a regular Joe to her.
McNulty: I listen to the shit she talks about, first time in my life I feel like a fucking doormat. Like anyone with any smarts would do something else with his life, you know, earn money or get elected. Like I'm just a breathing machine for my fucking dick.

Anthony "Tony" Gray

Played by: Christopher Mann

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tonygray_4458.jpg

"Sounds like you're running for something."

Thought I'd be the education mayor.

A Democratic Baltimore Councilman and a close ally of Carcetti before they turn into rivals with both trying to be elected mayor.

Dumbass Has a Point: Well, he's not dumb per se, but most people think his focusing on the issue of education is a terrible strategy for challenging Mayor Royce given the staggering crime rate and lack of safety in Baltimore. Predictably, the people prioritize safety over education, (personal safety is a much more immediate, primal, and visceral need than education) and as a result his message gets overlooked and he becomes an afterthought in the election. But Gray isn't wrong: if the Baltimore schools actually worked and gave kids a legitimate and achievable alternative to life as a criminal, things might be very different indeed for Baltimore and its people. (And the school system is certainly plagued with corruption and incompetence, which doesn't help things.) Of course, as we see when Carcetti becomes mayor, the problems with the schools are ultimately too big and too Inherent in the System for even the mayor to tackle it.
Dumbass No More: He gradually gets better at political maneuvering, going from Carcetti's Unwitting Pawn to seeing through some of the plans that Carcetti makes and correctly predicting their various twists and turns. Unfortunately for him, it's too little, too late to help him in the election.
Et Tu, Brute?: Feels deeply betrayed when it becomes evident that Carcetti is running his own platform. Gray was under the assumption that Carcetti would be his Number Two.
Know When to Fold 'Em: He immediately sees through Carcetti's tactic for him to siphon votes off Royce when Norman leaks the transfer of detectives off the dead witness case to Gray's campaign, but Gray does not dispute Norman's Brutal Honesty that he cannot win. However, he can still profit from his inevitable defeat by losing with a larger percentage of the votes, which he could leverage into a future Congressional run, so he agrees to do his part anyway.
Put on a Bus: Never seen or mentioned again after coming third in the primary.
Unwitting Pawn: For Carcetti, who uses Gray's plans to run as a way to split votes from Royce, keep the race from solely being about black man vs white man in a mostly black city, and thus allows Carcetti to win a seemingly unwinnable election.
We Used to Be Friends: Despite Carcetti's offers, he's not much interested in still being friends as the election goes on.

Anthony "Young Tony"

Played by: Sam Coppola

That's what it is. You're sitting eating shit all day long. Day after day, year after year

Former mayor of Baltimore from January 1, 1967 to January 1, 1971.

Cynicism Catalyst: The riot of 1968 made him decide to not pursue re-election.
Foil: To Carcetti, but it shows up mostly with the benefit of hindsight. Like Carcetti, he was a young, promising politician who became mayor during a tough time for the city and found his career hit by multiple crises that were not of his own making. The difference is that the headaches of it all convinced Tony to give things his best shot for one term and then he left politics to work as a regular lawyer and spend more time with his family. Carcetti, on the other hand, is much more ambitious and completely addicted to the political game, especially having a place in the spotlight. So when various crises hit Carcetti, he tries to deal with it in a way that doesn't sink his political career, does a lot of fast talking and political spin, and manages to ascend to the governor's office instead of being chased out of politics or letting his career stall out. Unfortunately Carcetti has to completely sell out everything that was decent about his agenda for the city and seems to be growing more distant from his family as becomes consumed by his ambition and narcissism. Even the shortened versions of their first names that they prefer to go by, Tony and Tommy, are similar but come from very different roots. (And the real life counterpart of Young Tony was actually named Thomas.)
I Coulda Been a Contender!: While he doesn't regret his career ending where it did, Carcetti seems to think he had the potential to do more, but Tony was caught up in and screwed by larger social events outside his control.
Know When to Fold Them: Quit politics to stop eating shit.
I decided being a downtown lawyer and seeing my family every night made for a fine life.
The Mentor: Carcetti admires him and goes to him for advice.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Is a fictional counterpart to Thomas D'Alesandro III, who was the actual mayor of Baltimore in that time span. Much like "Young Tony" and Tommy Carcetti, D'Alesandro came into office with a lot of promise, but faced constant issues with civil unrest and budget problems and left the mayor's office after a single term.^note
One-Shot Character: Has only two scenes, although that's enough to be remembered for his parable about the bowls of shit.
The Three Faces of Adam: "The prophet" to Tommy's "hunter". He offers his wisdom to mayoral candidate Carcetti.

Characters / The Wire: City Hall

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