{"id":151748,"date":"2026-03-03T23:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151748\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T23:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:47:07","slug":"will-d-c-s-mayoral-election-be-a-rerun-of-new-york-citys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151748\/","title":{"rendered":"Will D.C.\u2019s Mayoral Election be a Rerun of New York City\u2019s?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Seattle, Washington, all have in common? All three have football teams that have won<\/a> the Super Bowl. All three cities are considered tech hubs<\/a>. And, by the end of this year, Washington, D.C., may also join Seattle and New York City in electing a self-described democratic socialist mayor: current City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

D.C.\u2019s current mayor, Mayor Muriel Bowser, announced in November that she would not seek re-election this year, opening up<\/a> a competitive primary for the first time since 2006<\/a>. Lewis George, who has represented Ward Four since 2021, is considered<\/a> one of the frontrunners to be the city\u2019s next mayor. Her main opponent, Kenyon McDuffie, is a centrist establishment Democrat who has been recognized <\/a>by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce as one of the most \u201cpro-business\u201d council members. They cite McDuffie\u2019s stands in favor of \u201cpro-sports investments\u201d and business-friendly development regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The temptation to draw comparisons between the upcoming D.C. contest and last year\u2019s race in New York City is almost irresistible<\/a>. But the campaign George has built bears some subtle but important differences.<\/p>\n

Like Mamdani, Lewis George has stressed the issue of affordability in her campaign. She kicked off her campaign on December 1<\/a> by highlighting proposals<\/a> for universal childcare and social housing. The latter proposal<\/a> would set up mixed-income public housing in neighborhoods where higher rents paid by more affluent tenants would subsidize the rents of lower-income tenants.<\/p>\n

\u201cD.C. has been hit really hard by the affordability crisis,\u201d Marli Kasdan, a member of the political engagement committee of the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), tells The Progressive. \u201cNearly half of renters in the District are rent burdened, which means that they spend a third or more of their income on rental homes. The cost of child care<\/a> is skyrocketing in D.C.\u2014it is one of the most expensive cities in the nation for childcare.\u201d On February 6, the Metro D.C. DSA formally endorsed<\/a> Lewis George in the primary.<\/p>\n

Kasdan says she sees a sharp contrast between the two frontrunners: Lewis George supports affordable childcare, tenants\u2019 rights legislation<\/a>, and social housing<\/a>, while McDuffie has received donations from large corporations, developers, and wealthy individuals. Lewis George had a one-month head start in fundraising, but McDuffie quickly closed the gap following his announcement in January. The two are now roughly neck-and-neck in total campaign contributions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While some have drawn<\/a> a similarity between Lewis George\u2019s race against McDuffie and Mamdani\u2019s campaign against Andrew Cuomo in New York last year, Matthew Foster, a professional lecturer<\/a> in the Department Government in the\u00a0 American University School of Public Affairs, considers the comparison an oversimplification.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not going to be a conservative, establishment lane, per se,\u201d Foster states, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard to envision that there is going to be super distance and daylight between their [Lewis George and McDuffie] policy positions.\u201d He asserts that the ideological gap between Mamdani and Cuomo was much greater than the divide between Lewis George and McDuffie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, in his formal campaign announcement, McDuffie stressed issues<\/a> such as \u201ceconomic growth with guard rails,\u201d spreading economic prosperity across the city, as well as expanding affordable housing. McDuffie\u2019s positions vis-a-vis Lewis George stand in sharp contrast to Cuomo\u2019s attacks on Mamdani last year.<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s New York mayoral contest, Cuomo lambasted Mamdani<\/a>, claiming he supported \u201clegalized prostitution,\u201d was a Hamas sympathizer, and was in favor of defunding the police. Much like Mamdani, Lewis George\u2019s campaign will benefit from a municipal election funds program that makes it more feasible for candidates without large corporate donor bases to mount campaigns. These programs operate in a similar way in both D.C. and New York City: New York City matches small donor contributions up to $250<\/a> with taxpayer funds at an eight-to-one ratio, while D.C.\u2019s Fair Elections program matches contributions up to $200<\/a> at a five-to-one ratio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do think the Fair Elections program is going to be a huge boost and already has been,\u201d says Kasdan. \u201c[Lewis George] will be seeking to max out the public matching program. This will be key to her running a competitive race. Here in D.C., there are powerful real estate, restaurant, and other big money groups and corporate interests backing her opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Foster sees it differently. He tells The Progressive that Lewis George\u2019s private fundraising efforts have been so successful<\/a> in their own right\u2014raising $40,000 in just four hours<\/a>\u2014that their sheer volume will diminish the role that matching public funds would play in this contest. Lewis George has received about $1,250,000 in public funds, giving her an edge of about $135,000 over McDuffie.<\/p>\n

Still another parallel to Mamdani\u2019s situation will be the constraints that Lewis George may immediately face if elected mayor. Since taking office, Mamdani has had to rely on a much more conservative Democrat, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, to fund<\/a> many of his proposals. Lewis George will face a more unique predicament: As a federal district, every D.C. municipal budget and bill passed into law must be reviewed<\/a> by the U.S. Congress, which has between thirty and sixty days<\/a> to approve or reject the legislation before it\u2019s finalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rub is the federal government and Donald Trump,\u201d says Foster. \u201cThat\u2019s the elephant in the room. Going forward, I think it\u2019s going to frame the election, too. It is going beyond affordability. What makes the dynamics of this election so different is the reality of the influence of President Trump and his administration using D.C. as a guinea pig and lab for certain policies.\u201d He adds that public pressure may force the next mayor, be it Lewis George or McDuffie, to take a harder line on Trump than Bowser has.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bowser\u2019s executive order stating that D.C. police would cooperate<\/a> with federal law enforcement indefinitely after Trump sent the National Guard to patrol the streets in the capital, infuriated many in the Democratic Party\u2019s base. Her decision to greenlight the destruction of Black Lives Matter Plaza<\/a> near the White House also alienated some supporters.<\/p>\n

Kasdan speculates that Congressional review of D.C. budgets and legislation \u201ccould definitely be a difficult hurdle to overcome.\u201d Should Democrats retake the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections in 2026, however, she says that Lewis George would face a significantly less uphill battle\u2014although she believes the challenges posed by federal oversight on D.C.\u2019s local government can only be permanently resolved through statehood.<\/p>\n

Recently, Mamdani announced an executive order<\/a> mandating that city agencies cannot share information collected for city purposes with federal immigration authorities, except when they are required to by law.\u00a0The order also states that federal agents may not enter city property<\/a> without a warrant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo New Yorker should be afraid to apply for city services like childcare because they are an immigrant,\u201d Mamdani said<\/a>.\u00a0Lewis George has pledged, if elected, to sever any coordination<\/a> between D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think that other cities could follow D.C.\u2019s lead here. Other places turn to the nation\u2019s capital when they are looking to enact policies in their own jurisdictions,\u201d Kasdan says. \u201cI think we are entering a critical moment when more and more cities are going to push back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York City has now used<\/a> ranked choice voting for its primary elections for a couple of voting cycles. D.C. passed ranked choice<\/a> voting for both its citywide primaries and its general elections in 2024, and 2026 will be the first election cycle it goes into effect. In the 2025 New York City mayoral primary, because of the sheer number of candidates, no candidate reached 50 percent<\/a> in the first round. Ranked choice voting came into play on the second round, when the votes of the losers were reallocated and Mamdani came out on top. But so far at least, in D.C., there are only two serious candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While there are several candidates<\/a> running in the D.C. mayoral primary, Lewis George and McDuffie are far ahead of the rest of the field, so the same dynamics may not be in play for the upcoming contest in June. A two-candidate race makes it far easier for one person to get more than 50 percent of the vote\u2014bypassing the need to reallocate second choice votes under ranked choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s basically a two-person race. Ranked choice voting probably won\u2019t have a huge difference or impact right now,\u201d says Kasdan. \u201cBut we do think ranked choice voting will have an impact in races with multiple competitive candidates like the at-large [city council] races and [especially<\/a> the council seat in] ward one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Foster points out that context makes all the difference in assessing the impact of ranked choice voting. Since it consolidates votes behind the eventual winner, ranked choice voting does not necessarily favor more liberal candidates. He asserts that ranked choice voting will help moderate candidates in more moderate districts and progressive candidates in more progressive districts, since a winner is not declared until one candidate clears the 50 percent mark.<\/p>\n

Just as in Mamdani\u2019s campaign, Lewis George is relying on a massive grassroots outreach to voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re planning to mobilize hundreds of volunteers to knock on thousands of doors to ensure [Lewis George] wins the primary in June,\u201d says Kasdan. \u201cWe think that our ground game and ability to engage on a personal level with the average voter is going to go a long way to propel Janeese to victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Foster maintains that the energy behind the Lewis George campaign does not necessarily mean there will be an overall progressive wave this election year. He points out that some of the recent progressive victories in elections around the country have come in districts with split opposition<\/a>\u2014like in New Jersey\u2019s 11th Congressional district\u2014or with a toxic candidate, like Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there is actually going to be a wave,\u201d Foster adds, \u201cbut you definitely underestimate progressive candidates and the DSA at your own risk in some of these elections.\u201d<\/p>\n