A Socialist Mayoral Candidate Is Throwing Her Hat Into the Ring in D.C.

Another self-proclaimed democratic socialist is jumping into a big-city mayoral race, this time in Washington, D.C.

Council member Janeese Lewis George, 37, on Monday announced her candidacy with a platform highlighting affordability and housing concerns across the District, echoing campaign issues that propelled New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to victory in his race last month.

“Residents face uneven access to opportunity and a city government that on its best days feels unresponsive, and on its worst, is leaving residents out in the cold all because leaders have chosen to prioritize the needs of the well-connected over us. That’s wrong, it’s not the D.C. we should be and that’s why I’m running for mayor,” Lewis George said in her announcement.

“I will work with anyone to improve the lives of people here at home, and I will stand up to anyone who gets in our way,” she added.

Lewis George is the first candidate to enter the D.C. mayor’s race following Mayor Muriel Bowser’s announcement that she will not be seeking reelection for a fourth term.

Bowser was mayor throughout President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops across the District earlier this year. A Democrat, Bowser split from her party in cooperating with the Trump administration and accepting a surge of federal law enforcement in Washington.

Lewis George is one of a number of democratic socialist candidates picking up steam across the country following the surprising election of 34-year-old Mamdani, who is set to become the first Muslim mayor of New York City. Mamdani, who faced intense scrutiny from the Trump administration during his campaign, met with the president earlier this month in a surprisingly cordial meeting.

“We had a meeting today that actually surprised me. He wants to see no crime, he wants to see housing being built,” Trump said. “We agreed a lot more than I thought.”

First-time candidate Katie Wilson, who describes herself as a socialist, also beat incumbent Bruce Harrell last month in the tightest mayoral race in Seattle’s history.

“This campaign was driven by a deep belief that we need to expand the table to include everyone in the decisions that impact their lives,” Wilson said in a statement to The Seattle Times. “That is what we will be working to do every day as we set up this new administration.”