Lewis George Set to Be D.C.’s Next Mayor, as McDuffie Concedes

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.

“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.”

Preliminary election results show that in the first round, Lewis George holds a commanding lead with over 52% of first-choice rankings to McDuffie’s 37%. While thousands of votes have yet to be tallied and no official winner has been declared by election officials, McDuffie’s concession effectively hands a convincing victory to the two-term lawmaker.

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.

Lewis George plans to give her first remarks as the presumptive mayor-elect at a 1 p.m. news conference, her campaign said.

McDuffie conceded in the city’s mayoral primary Thursday morning. Kainaz Amaria/NOTUS

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 fines against Lewis George’s campaign for alleged improper coordination with several local unions — accusations she has denied. Nor was her candidacy negatively impacted by a threat last week from President Donald Trump, who threatened to “take back Washington” and “run it on the federal basis” if she won.

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.

More broadly, her 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%.

Supporters cheer on Lewis George while she speaks at The Howard Theatre on Tuesady night. Violet Jira/NOTUS

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.