Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George wins Democratic primary for DC mayor
There were seven candidates for mayor on the ballot.
Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., held earlier this week, according to a projection from the Associated Press on Thursday.
Lewis George, a D.C. councilmember and democratic socialist, had 52.9% of the vote as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Board of Elections website. Her next closest competitor, former Ward 5 and at-large councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, had 36.4%.
There were seven candidates for mayor on the ballot, but the race was viewed as essentially a showdown between Lewis George and McDuffie.
Tuesday's vote was the first D.C. mayoral election in 12 years without the city's current mayor, Muriel Bowser, as a candidate. It is also the first time D.C. has used ranked-choice voting.
D.C.'s relationship with President Donald Trump was a major issue in the race. Amid Trump's dispatching of the National Guard and criticism of D.C.'s home rule, Bowser has been relatively conciliatory with the president. Lewis George has said she "won't back down from Trump."
McDuffie was more cautious, saying he would "wage a smart fight." He also said electing Lewis George would "make it easier for (Trump) to justify federal intervention."
When asked at the White House last week how he would feel if Lewis George won the nomination, Trump said he would consider moving to "(take) back Washington, run it on a federal basis."
Like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Lewis George is a democratic socialist. If elected, she would be the first democratic socialist mayor of D.C. She has been endorsed by most D.C. labor unions.
While running for a seat on the D.C. Council in 2019, Lewis George Tweeted that she would "absolutely divest" from D.C.'s local police department, and "put that money into violence interruption programs." When McDuffie said during the mayoral race that Lewis George wanted to divest from the police, Lewis George said her opponent was using a "scare tactic," and touted her record of voting to fund the police budget as a council member.
She has called for halting coordination between local public safety agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance fined Lewis George's campaign $16,000 last Friday for what it said was inappropriate coordination with a super PAC and labor unions. Lewis George said she believed the investigation was flawed and politically motivated.