OPINION:
D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George, a die-hard socialist, is virtually certain to become the next mayor of the nation’s capital. Having won the Democratic primary in a city where Democrats dominate by overwhelming margins, the general election is a formality.
Ms. Lewis George, who was endorsed by Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Socialists of America, has a predictable platform that includes heavily subsidized childcare and opposition to immigration enforcement.
Naturally, she opposes the D.C. youth curfew of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. for those younger than 18. Why make it harder for juvenile gangs to operate?
Ms. Lewis George called President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to our nation’s capital “a direct attack on the 700,000 residents of D.C.” It is a direct attack that gave the District its lowest crime rates in 30 years. Perhaps Ms. Lewis George views crime as a redistribution program that takes property from overprivileged victims and gives it to needy perpetrators.
Ms. Lewis George has been called the Zohran Mamdani of the District. Like her New York counterpart, she will probably succeed at raising taxes, driving out businesses and high-income residents, and instituting utopian schemes such as municipal grocery stores.
Socialist mayors seem to be all the rage. Besides Mr. Mamdani, there are Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and Burlington, Vermont, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak. Although she is running behind in the polls, Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, another socialist, could end up as the next mayor of L.A. after the November election.
Still, the difference between a socialist and a run-of-the-mill urban leftist is one of degree, not policy. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are hardly advocates of limited government.
Ms. Lewis George and Mr. Mamdani are the end product of decades of urban collectivism: rent control, tax-the-rich policies, homeless encampments and subsidized everything. Los Angeles might have had an alternative with media personality Spencer Pratt, but he did not even make the runoff.
Urban America’s race to the bottom is predictable. As hardworking, sensible citizens are driven out (Los Angeles County lost about 54,000 people in one 12-month period), what is left is the gullible “gimme” crowd: those who think the rich are evil and prosperity can be legislated.
The only hope for the District is for Congress to modify or repeal the Home Rule Act of 1973. If things get bad enough, perhaps that will happen.
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