You could call it fence-mending, extending an olive branch, opening lines of communication, or simply municipal diplomacy. Whatever it is, it’s happening.
Over the last week, Democratic D.C. mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George has met with a prominent business organization as well as the leadership of the D.C. Police Union, engaging in conversations with two groups that have expressed unease with — if not outright hostility toward — her progressive proposals.
The outreach marks the very early days of what campaign aides don’t yet want to call a mayoral transition; Lewis George still has the November general election ahead of her, after all.
But after her decisive victory in the District’s June 16 primary, in which she won with 54% of the vote and all but ensured she’ll be the next mayor of the overwhelmingly Democratic city, there is consensus that Lewis George has to start laying the groundwork now for what will be a significant shift in priorities and policies if and when she takes office in January.
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“There is a sense of urgency here,” says Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, who has been advising Lewis George’s post-primary efforts. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and any candidate who won with a massive mandate would be champing at the bit to be engaged. She has been incredibly busy since the election.”
Campaign aides say Lewis George has been “meeting with tons of groups,” including those that were part of her winning coalition: teachers, environmentalists, tenants and immigrant rights organizations. But the aides — who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could comment on internal campaign matters — say say she also has spoken with housing providers, developers and CEOs.
“It was a tough primary, and she’s reaching out to people on all sides, including people not in her camp,” one aide said.
One of those meetings happened this week with a small group of executives who are part of the Greater Washington Partnership, which represents large employers from Baltimore down to Richmond.
The meeting is notable because the business community more broadly backed Kenyan McDuffie in the primary, seeing him as a more reliable quantity — a continuation of Bowser, to a certain degree.
Some business leaders are concerned that Lewis George’s policies won’t help revive and diversify D.C.’s economy, and that proposals for possible tax increases could instead drive employers to Maryland and Virginia. There is particular worry around a Business Activity Tax, which would target law firms, lobbyists and consulting firms whose owners live outside the city.
Some have said they need to impress upon Lewis George how challenging D.C.’s business climate has gotten. “I couldn’t raise a dime now if I tried,” said one real estate developer, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Others, though, are more encouraged by Lewis George’s promise to work with universities and other institutions to help revitalize downtown D.C., as well as her pledge to cut red tape and bureaucracy that can complicate housing construction and running a business in the city. One person in the world of finance and investment said approaching Lewis George openly is better than simply assuming the worst of her.
“We can’t walk in saying, ‘We don’t like this,’ without saying, ‘This is what success looks like,’” the person said.
Kathy Hollinger, the CEO of the partnership, tells NOTUS that the meeting with Lewis George was intended to open lines of communication and press the argument that D.C. is a vital component of the region’s economy — but that companies, like residents, have choices in where they locate.
“The conversation was an encouraging first step in establishing what we expect will be a needed relationship,” Hollinger said. “These were CEOs from the region’s most significant private sector industries together with leading universities, health systems and nonprofit institutions. We shared with her very directly that just those who were around the table employ more than 70,000 people in the District. Many of the priorities discussed included housing, affordability, permitting and downtown revitalization.”
At-Large Council member Elissa Silverman, a fellow progressive who during her career has clashed and worked with the business community, said the outreach is necessary — and can be mutually beneficial.
“I think there’s a lot of room to make the rules less bureaucratic, more understandable, better both for business and the economy,” she said. “The change in administration is an opportunity to reimagine programs that haven’t had scrutiny or a good look taken in a while.”
Lewis George also met last week with the leadership of the D.C. Police Union, which represents more than 3,000 police officers.
The union has been highly critical of Lewis George and the D.C. Council in the past; union leaders have aggressively pushed Republicans in Congress to intervene in the city’s local affairs and broadly supported President Donald Trump’s move last year to deploy the National Guard in the city. Lewis George and other lawmakers have been critical of both stances.
Lewis George has promised to end any cooperation between MPD and ICE on her first day in office. She has also endorsed non-police approaches to fighting crime, but has generally backed away from her support in 2019 and 2020 for defunding the police.
The tension between the two camps was evident in how the meeting was set up: Lewis George asked that the D.C. firefighters union, which endorsed her during the primary, make the initial outreach on her behalf. (Dozens of unions backed Lewis George; the police union did not make an endorsement.)
Police union President Gregg Pemberton did not respond to requests for comment on the meeting with Lewis George, and her campaign aides said little about what was discussed. “It was a positive meeting,” one offered. “It was introductory. There will be more to come.”
The next D.C. mayor will immediately be faced with a big decision for MPD: who to appoint as chief. Current Police Chief Jeffery Carroll remains in an interim capacity, and Bowser is unlikely to nominate him for the permanent post considering the upcoming change in administrations.
The next mayor will also have to handle what has been a persistent issue with the department: staffing. As of this month, there are some 3,157 sworn officers in MPD, down from roughly 3,800 a decade ago. The lower number of officers and increased demands on their time has led to record overtime budgets. In the 2025 fiscal year, for example, the department spent $134 million on overtime pay.
Ultimately, though, Lewis George’s campaign aides say they’re entering the meetings they have with the election’s results in mind — and trying to find ways to bring critics on board.
“There are mandates for universal access to affordable child care, to build tens of thousands of homes, to lower utility prices, and to end cooperation with ICE,” said one aide who spoke to NOTUS. “How do we deliver on them on day 1 or year 1? That starts by bringing in as many players while also continuing the conversations and relationships with our base.”
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