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Frontrunners Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George clash onstage over utility pricing increases. (Credit: Free DC/March 14, 2026)
Janeese Lewis George, a socialist member of the Washington, D.C., City Council described as "D.C.'s version of [New York City Mayor] Zohran Mamdani," is likely to become mayor of the nation's capital after winning the Democrat primary this week.
Her main opponent, Kenyan McDuffie, conceded on Thursday morning and the ranked-choice primary race was officially called for the far-left candidate by the afternoon.
In a city that leans overwhelmingly Democrat and with no real challengers on the ballot, Lewis George's primary victory clears the way for her to win November's general election for mayor. She is poised to replace current Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser, who on occasion worked with President Donald Trump over the last two years but ultimately opted not to pursue a fourth term at the city's helm.
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Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George joined parents, educators and organizers at a SPACEs In Action and Blandi’s Childcare Center rally to demand funding for the Pay Equity Fund and childcare subsidies at the Blandis Childcare Center in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 2026. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for SPACEs in Action)
Lewis George's challengers were McDuffie and five others who polled very low: Rini Sampath, Gary Goodweather, Ernest Johnson, Hope Solomon and Vincent Orange.
With a more adversarial approach to the current administration, Lewis George's victory tees up a potential showdown with Trump as the president made cleaning up D.C. during his second term a main goal, maintains a deployment of the National Guard to the nation's capital and has threatened repeatedly to end home rule for the district.
Opposing Trump's deployment of the National Guard to D.C. was a central tenet of Lewis George's platform on the council and during her campaign.
"Like many of you, I am shocked and outraged that President Trump has announced he is weaponizing the Home Rule Act by deploying the National Guard and exercising authority over the Metropolitan Police Department. This is a direct attack on the 700,000 residents of D.C., and we will not stand for it," she said in a statement when Trump announced the move last August.
While Bowser offered cooperation with the Trump administration on the crime crackdown, which has been focused heavily on juvenile incidents, Lewis George insisted that "federal troops" and "masked ICE agents" were the real threat to the city's youth.
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George speaks during a city council meeting in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2023. (Craig Hudson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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"Right now, using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous," she said during a primary debate. "It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, masked ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law and our young people."
"And these are not individuals who are trained in de-escalation, they are not accountable to D.C. residents.
"As mayor," she continued, "I think it's important that we use the right tools, and we don't put the risk of our youth being harmed or killed without the real oversight that's necessary."
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George speaks during the "Rally for Childcare" event aimed at restoring funding for childcare at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., on May 12, 2025. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for SPACEs in Action)
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Instead, Lewis George plans to offer even more "youth programming" to keep young people out of trouble.
She has touted a plan to expand universal access to childcare in D.C., "so that no family is spending more than 7% of their income on childcare."
As a self-described democratic socialist, Lewis George is expected to take the district even further left as Trump and Republicans call for a crackdown on left-leaning policies they say are ruining the nation's capital.
The candidate has supported the defund police movement and was endorsed by progressive groups like Black Lives Matter, the Working Families Party and the Metro D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Trump has suggested that he'd order another federal takeover of Washington D.C. if the "crazy socialist" mayoral candidate was elected.
"I wouldn’t like it — and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis," Trump said when asked by reporters how he'd respond if a self-described Democratic socialist D.C. council member were to win her bid.
"We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses," Trump said last week during a press briefing from the White House.
Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
