Former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie conceded in the city’s mayoral primary Thursday morning, all but ensuring that Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist who ran on an ambitious platform, will serve as the next leader of the nation’s capital.
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“While the certification process will continue, it is clear that the voters have chosen a different path,” McDuffie wrote. He added that he had called Lewis George to “congratulate her on her victory.”
The Associated Press declared Lewis George the winner Thursday afternoon. Preliminary election results showed that in the first round, Lewis George held a commanding lead with over 52% of first-choice rankings to McDuffie’s 37%.
And because the Democratic nominee is overwhelmingly favored to win the general election in the deep-blue District, Lewis George is now effectively positioned to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser as the city’s mayor.
On Thursday afternoon, at her first news conference as D.C.’s presumptive mayor-elect, Lewis George said she and her team had already gotten started.
“We are already taking a look at many of our agencies and how we can be more efficient and what policy changes we can make,” she said. “It’s so critical where the government is right now. The bond rating has to be preserved. I am going to be prudent, thoughtful and strategic about our funds and the budget, and also be innovative.”
Bowser, who supported McDuffie but did not formally endorse him, told reporters at a separate news conference that she had congratulated Lewis George Thursday morning.
“We’re going to keep governing over the next six months, and on Jan. 2, pass off the baton of the best city in the world,” Bowser added. “And it will be in great shape.”
On her path to becoming D.C.’s ninth mayor, Lewis George fended off attempts by her opponents to make her platform appear overly ambitious at a time when the city is facing significant economic turbulence. Instead, voters appear to have embraced the 38-year-old former prosecutor’s unabashedly progressive platform, which includes proposals like providing universal child care and building 72,000 new housing units in five years.
Last week’s eleventh-hour action from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance also appeared to have little impact. In response to a complaint, the office levied $16,000 in finesagainst Lewis George’s campaign for alleged improper coordination with several local unions — accusations she has denied. Lewis George said Thursday that she filed a motion for reconsideration with the campaign finance office.
Lewis George, who pledged on the campaign to stand up aggressively to the Trump administration, suggested Tuesday that the president’s comments may have actually been beneficial to her campaign, injecting “even more energy” into it on the eve of the election.
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While addressing reporters Thursday, Lewis George said she wants to make sure the president understands she “is willing to work with anyone to benefit D.C. residents, and that includes President Trump.”
Lewis George also said she had also spoken with Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), who serves as ranking member of the powerful House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which plays a direct role in overseeing and modifying D.C. laws.
“I talked to him because I wanted to get his thoughts on how we can strategize,” Lewis George said. “He said to me, ‘We are going to be a welcome partner to you.’”
Lewis George’s win represents a victory for the Democratic Socialists of America, a national organization whose local chapter supported Lewis George’s campaign. It also reflects a growing trend in major urban centers including Los Angeles, Seattle and New York City — where Zohran Mamdani garnered nationwide attention for winning the mayoralty on a similar platform.
First-choice rankings show that progressive and left-leaning candidates in D.C. were successful across the board. In the race to succeed Eleanor Holmes Norton, the city’s delegate to Congress, Council member Robert White easily defeated his primary challenger, Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, winning 63% of first-choice votes to her 22%.
In the highly competitive at-large Council races, progressives like Elissa Silverman and Oye Owolewa also captured strong leads, and in the Ward 1 Council race, DSA-backed Aparna Raj won easily, securing 47% of first-choice rankings.
Taken together, these victories shift the ideological balance of power in the D.C. government firmly to the left, setting the stage for a new progressive era in city leadership. With the general election considered a formality, attention now turns to how these incoming leaders will navigate their new roles.
For Lewis George, the immediate challenge will be translating this progressive wave into actual policy at the Wilson Building, even with the omnipresent threat of action from a Trump administration that has promised to strip D.C. of self-governance.
“People saw me run a well-run, professional campaign, so they know I’ll run a well-run, professional government,” she said.
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