Janeese Lewis George poised for victory in the mayoral race

This story was last updated at 7:15 p.m. on 6/17/26.

Janeese Lewis George holds a significant lead in the mayoral race over Kenyan McDuffie, likely clinching her win in an election that saw a strong showing from progressive candidates.

The current Ward 4 councilmember stopped short of declaring victory, but made an emotional speech at her election night party.

“If there was ever any doubt, let it now be laid to rest. It is the people of D.C. who elect the mayor of D.C.,” she said. “This moment is for those who refuse to surrender their hope ... Tonight, we are making history by showing this country that the dream of America is still alive in its capital city.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Lewis George had received 53% of the vote to McDuffie’s 36%. McDuffie would need an improbably strong showing in the remaining ballots to overtake Lewis George.

Thus far, 113,000 ballots have been counted, with potentially tens of thousands still in the mail (about 130,000 ballots were cast in the 2022 primary, a far less competitive election). The Board of Elections has said it expects to publish round-by-round results on Sunday, June 21.

In D.C.’s first-ever election using ranked-choice voting, Lewis George delivered an ambitious message focused on affordability, pledging to reduce childcare costs, rein in Pepco bills, and build a significant amount of new housing.

The Ward 4 councilmember, who also led in pre-election polls, had the backing of major unions and progressive advocacy organizations. McDuffie, seen as the more centrist option, was endorsed by members of the city’s political establishment, as well as business and trade groups.

It was the first time Mayor Muriel Bowser’s name wasn’t on the ballot in more than a decade, but the race nonetheless offered a referendum on her approach to governance. While Bowser didn’t offer an official endorsement, she publicly backed McDuffie, and his candidacy was seen as a continuation of her more moderate policies and non-antagonistic approach to the Trump administration.

“The sense that I get from a lot of folks is that they would expect a McDuffie administration to be a continuation in some sense of what the Bowser administration has had to offer,” said Ward 1 advisory neighborhood commissioner Josh Jacobson, who voted for Lewis George.

Last week, President Donald Trump threatened to “take back Washington and run it on a federal basis” if Lewis George won. She told reporters on Tuesday night that she suspected the threats actually helped her candidacy. 

Her win is a “clear mandate” that voters wanted a leader who would handle federal interference differently, argued Alex Dodds, the campaign manager for Home Rule advocacy group Free DC. “What Janeese presented as an option is we can assert our rights unapologetically,” she said. “If we choose that courageously, that is the way that we survive this period, and we come out the other side stronger.”

Meanwhile, a last-minute fine from the Office of Campaign Finance doesn’t appear to have dampened enthusiasm for her campaign.

If current results hold, Lewis George will still have to win the November general election — but the Democratic nominee has historically always been the city’s next mayor.

In every other competitive race, left-leaning candidates either won outright or were leading by significant margins.

Robert White handily won the race for the congressional delegate seat to replace Eleanor Holmes Norton, with 63% of the vote. Elissa Silverman, a former progressive At-Large Councilmember, also currently holds 55% of the vote in the At-Large special election to serve out the remainder of McDuffie’s term on the D.C. Council.

Incumbents Zachary Parker and Charles Allen were reelected to their D.C. Council seats representing Wards 5 and 6 respectively, and Brian Schwalb will serve another term as D.C.’s attorney general.

And progressive candidates Aparna Raj and Oye Owolewa each have significant leads in the Ward 1 and At-Large races, respectively. Their emphasis on affordability issues, particularly housing and working families, appears to have resonated with voters.

Change can be a winning political philosophy, said Bill Lightfoot, an attorney and former At-Large Councilmember who chaired Mayor Muriel Bowser’s first mayoral campaign. “If you can convince the voters you're going to bring about change, and some kind of positive change, you’ll normally win,” he said.

Lewis George had a broad range of support across the city, leading in every ward except for wealthy Ward 3. With partial results reported, her strongest showing came from Ward 1 with 65% of the vote, followed by her home base in Ward 4.

“More and more people still feel the same pressures of just making ends meet in the District,” said Claire Mills, the D.C. campaigns manager at Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “I think Janeese was able to speak to them, and how she's actually going to address that in a way that you know the polls and pundits just didn't really understand.”

While most voters honed in on the frontrunners in the mayoral race, some said they were able to use the new ranked choice voting system to express broader political viewpoints. Bloomingdale resident Joseph De St Aubin said he primarily supported Lewis George’s campaign, but ranked Rini Sampath as his first choice for mayor, “hoping that she gets a really strong support base that shows a lot of people do care about new approaches to city government.” (Sampath currently has 3% of the vote).

And despite the magnitude of this election, some still struggled with who to support. Two weeks before the primary, a quarter of voters were undecided, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.

“People I talk to really don't understand the candidates’ position on different issues and don't make a major distinction between the candidates right now,” Lightfoot said.

He cited a variety of reasons: cuts to local media, particularly The Washington Post, that would typically cover elections in-depth, as well as a lack of detail from candidates on their policy platforms. “If the candidates are speaking in platitudes and broad generalities about how they're going to fight for D.C. and affordability, then no issues bubble to the surface,” he added.

BOE has said that it aims to publish additional rounds by Sunday, June 21; Wednesday, June 24; and a final set of results by Friday, June 26.

Mayor

In line with pre-election polling, Janeese Lewis George led the pack with about 53% of first-choice votes, as of an updated vote tally released Wednesday afternoon. She was followed by Kenyan McDuffie, who came in at 36%.   

The other candidates lag far behind: Gary Goodweather and Rini Sampath both received 3% of the first-choice results, followed by Vincent Orange at 2.7%, Hope Solomon with 1%, and Ernest Johnson at just half a percent. 

Despite the addition of ranked-choice voting, this has been a clear two-person race between Lewis George and McDuffie. They share a similar path — both are native Washingtonians with experience as prosecutors and on the D.C. Council — but offered different visions for the city.

Lewis George leaned on a progressive platform that focused heavily on housing affordability, with promises to make childcare more accessible and lower utility bills. While McDuffie has similarly brought up affordability, he ran a more moderate, pro-business campaign that latched onto public safety as a core issue, especially in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

Congressional delegate

At-Large Councilmember Robert claimed victory with 63% of votes. In a distant second was his colleague on the council, Brooke Pinto, at 22% of the vote, who called White on election night to concede.

Kinney Zalesne, a former fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, received about 8% of the vote, followed by recent Norton staffer Trent Holbrook and former nuclear regulator Greg Jaczko.

Norton is stepping down after three decades in office. Her retirement represents a new chapter in the city’s quest for statehood, and a chance for a different approach to the delegate role. White’s win means there will be a special election to fill his council seat.

At-Large councilmember

Nine Democratic candidates vied for the open At-Large seat after longtime Councilmember Anita Bonds announced she wouldn’t run for another term. 

Oye Owolewa, D.C.’s shadow representative, ended Tuesday with the most first-choice votes at 34%. He’s followed by Lisa Raymond at 15%, Kevin Chavous at 14%, and Greg Jackson at 11%.

Behind them are Candace Tiana Nelson, Dwight Davis, Fred Hill, Dyana Forester, and Leniqua’dominique Jenkins, in order of most votes to least.

Despite the significance of the seat — a four-year term representing the entire city — this race has been a wild card. Few candidates had much name recognition and the race received relatively little coverage. Numerous progressive organizations threw their support behind Owolewa, though, and he was the most known to voters from his work as shadow representative. 

At-Large councilmember (special election)

In the independent special election to serve out the rest of Kenyan McDuffie’s term, Elissa Silverman leads with 55% of the vote. Doni Crawford is in distant second at 25%, followed by Jacque Patterson with 19%.

The race is a bit of déjà vu — Silverman held this seat for eight years, before losing it to Kenyan McDuffie in 2022. This time, she faced Crawford, a former McDuffie staffer who was temporarily appointed to the seat after he stepped down to run for mayor. 

Silverman would need to win again in November to serve a full four-year term. 

Ward 1 councilmember

Tenant organizer Aparna Raj leads the race with 47% of the first-choice vote. She’s followed by advisory neighborhood commissioners Miguel Trindade Deramo and Rashida Brown, who have 21% and 17% of the vote, respectively.

Former Bowser appointee Jackie Reyes Yanes has 10% of the vote, trailed by nonprofit executive director Terry Lynch with 6%.

Ward 1 is one of the city’s progressive strongholds, and the three leading candidates all espoused similar positions. But in the first race without an incumbent in decades, Raj — a former DSA chair — consolidated support among many of the city’s labor and progressive groups. 

Ward 5 councilmember

Councilmember Zachary Parker faced two challengers to his bid for re-election: clean energy policy staffer Bridget French and senior member of the D.C. Democratic Party Bernita Carmichael.

Parker leads at 77% of first-choice results. Carmichael is in a far second at 15%, and French is in third with over 7% of the vote.

Ward 6 councilmember

Councilmember Charles Allen ran for re-election, facing Gloria Nauden, former ANC commissioner and current CEO of Philanthropy DMV, and Michael Murphy, a litigator.

Allen leads at over 74% of first-choice results. Nauden is in a distant second at over 19%, and Murphy is in third with over 6% of the vote.

Non-ranked-choice voting elections

Several races had fewer than three people on the ballot, including council chair, Ward 3 councilmember, and attorney general. 

Attorney General Brian Schwalb handily won re-election with 90% of the vote.

With no one else on the ballot, Phil Mendelson will continue to serve as council chair, a role he has held for over 10 years, and Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin similarly had no challengers.

Correction: Early partial results show Janeese Lewis George with a commanding lead. The Board of Elections has not given an exact percentage of votes tallied.