This story was last updated on June 18 at 3:37 p.m.
It looks like D.C. is getting its first democratic socialist mayor, with Janeese Lewis George winning decisively in the race against her more moderate council colleague Kenyan McDuffie.
“We need to do something about this affordability crisis, we need leadership to be prepared to stand up against this administration for our families, and we need our government to work,” she said to a room at Busboys and Poets on 14th St. and V St. NW packed with reporters, just hours after McDuffie conceded the race on Thursday.
Lewis George said her campaign knocked on 200,000 doors and voters across all eight wards, regardless of ideology, were concerned about affordable, safe communities. “These aren’t values attributed to one party,” she said. “This idea that no matter where you live in this city, you actually have access to the American dream — and you can’t have access to that dream if everything is unaffordable and the system is working against you.”
The Ward 4 councilmember has received 53% of the vote, and leads in every part of the city except for wealthy Ward 3. Votes are still being counted but partial results show she was strongest in Ward 1, with 66% of the vote, followed by her home base in Ward 4. McDuffie, who received 36% of the first-choice vote, barely leads even in Ward 3.
Hammering home a central campaign message at the press conference, she said that as mayor she’ll lower the cost of utility bills by expanding solar energy and making a plan to “rein in Pepco greed.” She also said she'd address the lack of grocery store access in Wards 7 and 8, the city's housing crisis, and that she’s committed to achieving her plan of universal affordable childcare, saying that her team plans to work quickly to expand the city’s childcare subsidy to every D.C. family.
Lewis George will face substantial challenges running a city that’s facing a $1.1 billion budget shortfall following mass firings of federal workers — and her campaign was dogged by accusations that her ambitious plans weren’t realistic in a city facing such tough economic headwinds. She’ll also have to contend with a president who seems intent on interfering with the city’s affairs, particularly if it’s run by a democratic socialist.
Last week, President Donald Trump threatened to “take back Washington and run it on a federal basis” if Lewis George won. He came into office with a range of options for how he could use the presidency to exert more control over D.C. — the deployment of the National Guard and takeover of the police department last summer illustrate the power Trump holds over the city — though he cannot overrule Home Rule single-handedly.
But rather than deter Washingtonians from voting for Lewis George, she believes it helped her campaign. “It motivated people to get to the polls,” Lewis George told City Cast reporter Emma Uber at her election night party.
“We are not going to be able to stand up for our autonomy and fight for D.C. statehood ultimately by just complying in advance,” she said at Busboys and Poets — while also adding that she’s willing to work with anyone, including the president, for the best interests of D.C. residents.
At the press conference, she acknowledged the city’s budget challenges, saying her team is already looking at government agencies to see where spending and savings can be made more efficient, and repeated a campaign message that she won’t be raising taxes on working class and middle class people.
Lewis George had a commanding lead after partial, first-round results were released, and McDuffie acknowledged in his concession that he would be unable to make up the difference.
“While the final certification process will continue, it is clear that the voters have chosen a different path,” reads a statement from McDuffie, adding that he called Lewis George to congratulate her.
In D.C.’s first-ever election using ranked-choice voting, Lewis George earned the backing of unions and progressive advocacy organizations, while McDuffie was endorsed by members of the city’s political establishment, as well as business and trade groups.
"The history being made tonight is not being made by me,” said Lewis George at her election night party. “It's being made by all of us. Over the past year, we assembled the most diverse coalition in this city's history, united by a simple notion that government must put people first."
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s name wasn’t on the ballot for the first time in over a decade, but the race nonetheless offered a referendum on her administration. She publicly backed McDuffie (without giving an endorsement), and his candidacy was generally in line with her more moderate policy positions.
A City Cast DC poll indicated that the cost of living was voters’ top issue, and a Washington Post poll found that a majority of voters said D.C. is unaffordable for them to live in. Lewis George consistently led in pre-election polls.
She did “a better job of positioning herself of being the candidate of the working people,” said Bill Lightfoot, an attorney and former At-Large councilmember who chaired Mayor Muriel Bowser’s first mayoral campaign.
Many also saw her win as a “clear mandate” that voters were looking for a mayor who would handle Trump 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.”
In race after race, voters indicated a desire for change, throwing their support for left-leaning candidates. Robert White bested his Council colleague Brooke Pinto to win the D.C. delegate seat, and Doni Crawford has conceded the special election to serve out the remainder of McDuffie’s term to Elissa Silverman. While the races are likely to move to second round votes, Democratic socialist Aparna Raj and fellow progressive Oye Owolewa also had strong showings in the Ward 1 and At-Large Council races.
Many of these candidates zeroed in on how D.C.’s affordability crisis and government inefficiency affects residents’ daily lives, particularly following this winter’s “snowcrete” disaster and months of spiking Pepco bills.
“It just felt like there wasn't a real answer from the Bowser administration,” said Claire Mills, the D.C. campaigns manager at Chesapeake Climate Action Network, about the snowstorm. “People are really looking for candidates who have an answer to those day-to-day problems that they face.”
Lewis George will face candidates from other parties in the November general election, though the Democratic nominee has historically always been the city’s next mayor. If she’s sworn in, a special election will be held to fill her Ward 4 seat.
Over the course of the campaign, Lewis George tried to tie McDuffie to Trump by accusing him of accepting “big Trump donor dollars” (campaign finance records show he did receive money from individuals who also gave to campaign committees associated with Trump, although it was a relatively small amount).
Lewis George’s campaign had significant momentum and energy going into the final days of the race, but she also had to navigate last-minute controversy. The Office of Campaign Finance released a report four days before the primary, fining her campaign $16,000 following an investigation into collaboration with labor unions. The campaign pledged to appeal the order, which it described as “reckless” and “a last-ditch effort to derail a campaign.”
Other candidates in the race included former councilmember Vincent Orange and several first-timers. Despite the addition of ranked choice voting, though, none got more than 3% of the vote in the first round of voting.
Over the final weeks of the campaign, McDuffie honed in on public safety in his closing arguments, painting Lewis George as someone who would defund the police (She characterized his attack as “fear mongering” and both candidates said they wanted to hire more officers if elected.) He also hammered her position opposing the youth curfew, and held a press conference outside a Navy Yard Chipotle where a viral video of teenagers brawling took place.
“He was very focused on crime and stoking fear,” said Dodds. “Not talking about it as a community problem that we need to solve, but weaponizing it for political gain.”
Ultimately, Lewis George’s ambitious messaging and policy plans won out. “More and more people still feel the same pressures of just making ends meet in the District,” said Mills. “I think Janeese was able to speak to them, and how she's actually going to address that in a way that the polls and pundits just didn't really understand.”
Sam is a reporter with The 51st. She was a multimedia freelance journalist for a year before joining the team. Prior to that, she worked at Vox and More Perfect Union. Sam has covered a wide range of issues, from invasive vines to vaccines.
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