Socialist Candidate Shakes Up DC Mayoral Race, Set to Challenge Trump in Groundbreaking Election

A democratic socialist is on the verge of becoming the next mayor of Washington, DC, even as President Donald Trump has threatened to impose federal control over the capital.

Early results indicate that mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George is leading with just over 50% of the votes. Her closest competitor, former city council member Kenyan McDuffie, trails behind at 36%, with more than 60% of the ballots counted.

Voters faced a decision: support Lewis George, a candidate reminiscent of New York City’s Zohran Mamdani, which could provoke a Republican President intent on challenging DC’s Home Rule, or opt for McDuffie, a more centrist Democrat favored by business and restaurant leaders.

McDuffie, who previously identified as an independent, rejoined the Democratic Party to pursue his mayoral ambitions.

The electorate chose to send a message to the President by leaning towards Lewis George.

‘I wouldn’t like it,’ Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office, when asked about the prospect of a Lewis George win. 

‘Maybe we take back Washington and run it on a federal basis. We won’t put up with it,’ he said. 

Speaking to supporters from U Street’s Howard Theatre, part of the historic ‘Black Broadway,’ Lewis George took a veiled swipe at Trump’s comments Tuesday night. 

D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George waves at an Election Night party at Howard Theatre Tuesday after early returns showed her garnering more than 50 percent of the vote to be Washington, DC’s next mayor 

On Thursday in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump said he ‘won’t put up with’ the election of democratic socialist DC mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George

‘If there was ever any doubt. Let it now be laid to rest. It is the people of DC who elect the mayor of DC,’ the democratic socialist said to cheers. 

If Lewis George remains above 50 percent, she wins the Democratic primary outright. 

If she dips below, some votes from less popular candidates will be reshuffled, as DC has implemented a ranked-choice voting system starting this cycle.

Still, Lewis George remains in a strong position to win.  

As in liberal California, many voters in DC use mail-in ballots and can postmark them as late as Election Day. 

Returns were delayed for hours after polls were supposed to close at 8 pm ET on Tuesday. 

Whoever wins the Democratic mayoral primary is a shoo-in for the general election due to the city’s overwhelmingly Democratic voter base. 

In the 2024 presidential election, for example, the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, won 90.3 percent of the vote to Trump’s 6.5 percent. 

The last time the capital city had a Republican mayor, it was still the party associated with President Abraham Lincoln, with Republican Sayles Jenks Bowen serving as mayor from 1868 to 1870.      

Former DC Council member, the more moderate Kenyan McDuffie, was considered Janeese Lewis George’s biggest rival. The Democrat turned independent turned Democrat was backed by business and restaurant industry leaders 

DC mayor hopeful Janeese Lewis George participates in an interview on Election Day on Tuesday 

Trump would have to go to Congress to strip away DC Home Rule. 

The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 allows DC residents the right to elect a mayor and a 13-member city council. 

Because DC is a federal district and not a state, the nearly 700,000 tax-paying residents don’t get to elect members of Congress. 

Still, Congress ultimately gets to decide what local laws go into effect and must approve the DC budget. 

Historically, Republicans in Congress have attempted to meddle in policies supported by the city’s liberal voters – including abortion funding, marijuana legalization and firearms restrictions. 

A statehood movement in DC has taken root, with a Democrat-led House of Representatives passing a statehood bill in 2021, but it went nowhere in the Senate, with national Republicans largely against granting DC statehood because it would all but guarantee two Democratic senators and a Democratic US House member.   

DC’s current Democratic Mayor, Muriel Bowser, decided to bow out after three terms, despite not being term-limited. 

She served through all of Trump’s first term and will end her tenure as Trump hits the two-year mark of his second. 

Bowser has maintained a stable relationship with the Trump administration during the President’s second term.

While they clashed during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, she’s ensured DC’s autonomy by making concessions such as paving over the large Black Lives Matter street mural on 16th Street NW directly in front of the White House.    

She also walked a delicate line when Trump ordered the National Guard onto DC streets, praising the anti-crime initiatives while criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions.