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District of Columbia Councilmember Janeese Lewis George announced Monday she will run for mayor in 2026, becoming the first major candidate to enter the race following Mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision not to seek reelection.
Bowser, who has served three terms and led the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and the first Trump administration, said last week she will step down at the end of her term after a decade in office.
Lewis George, a Democrat who has identified as a Democratic Socialist, released a campaign video on X outlining her priorities and criticizing what she called an unresponsive city government.
“Too many residents still feel squeezed financially, from unaffordable housing to childcare, and feel unsafe in their neighborhoods,” she said. “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 DC we should be and that’s why I’m running for Mayor,” she continued. “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.”
Lewis George was elected to the D.C. Council in 2020 and holds a law degree from Howard University. She previously served as an assistant attorney general in the juvenile section of the public safety division under former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine.
She previously wrote in August that she was “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 DC and we will not stand for it.”
Her announcement makes her the earliest major contender to step into what is expected to be a competitive Democratic primary. She joins a growing list of Democratic socialist candidates nationwide seeking higher office, following New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win last month.