The top candidates in the District’s mayoral primary are showing an eagerness to attack each other’s records as the race between former D.C. Council colleagues Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie nears its end.
Reciting the low points in their respective Council records dominated the final public forum last week between Ms. Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist, and Mr. McDuffie, who has pitched himself as the tough-on-crime choice in the June 16 primary.
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in the fall she would not seek a fourth term, giving city voters the first mayoral race in more than a decade without the Democratic incumbent on the ballot. The Democratic primary functions as the de facto election for mayor, and other major city offices, in the deep-blue District.
The two candidates hammered each other over their public safety stances during the June 4 forum with local NBC affiliate WRC-TV, as methods to address a wave of “teen takeovers” have become a top priority for the city’s residents.
Ms. Bowser and Metropolitan Police leaders have argued in favor of an enhanced curfew law, with police able to establish curfew “zones” in certain parts of town where teens regularly gather. The zones are part of a permanent curfew law currently undergoing congressional review, and it is expected to take effect within the next month.
Mr. McDuffie, a former at-large independent on the council, became a stronger proponent of the curfew zones following a viral brawl at a Navy Yard Chipotle last month.
But Ms. Lewis George, Ward 4 Democrat, has said the zones risk putting more children in contact with federal law enforcement scattered around the District thanks to President Trump. She tried to dismantle Mr. McDuffie’s image as a no-nonsense crime fighter by saying his support for the zones is just his latest political transformation.
“One of the biggest issues we have with Mr. McDuffie and transparency is the public doesn’t know where he stands on issues,” Ms. Lewis George said at the forum. “He has constantly waffled, especially on issues of public safety.”
Ms. Lewis George said the former D.C. Council member did not support expanding the juvenile curfew when they both shared the dais. He also included an amendment to have greater pretrial detention powers expire when it was included in 2024’s massive pro-policing omnibus package, she said.
“It’s important for there to be leaders that the public can trust and understand where they’re coming from, understand their values, and because he’s so inconsistent, our public has no idea what he’s going to do or say as mayor,” the councilwoman said.
Mr. McDuffie fired back that he had always supported using the juvenile curfew as a temporary tool to rein in unruly youth gatherings, which have made national headlines for how often they erupt into wild melees in Navy Yard.
He added that his amendment to end the more robust pretrial detention, which gives judges greater discretion to jail violent defendants if they are deemed dangerous, was done to give the council an option to tweak the statute if it wasn’t working.
“She, on the other hand, has developed a record of voting in a way that makes Washington, D.C., less safe,” Mr. McDuffie said about his top competitor.
“She voted against evicting violent tenants from properties, even where they were an imminent threat,” he said. “She voted against holding violent tenants pretrial. She voted against making it illegal to shoot a gun in public, and finally, and very seriously, she voted against making strangulation a felony offense at a time where domestic violence in Washington, D.C., is going up. She should be ashamed of herself.”
The latest polls show Ms. Lewis George has taken a sizable lead in the race.
She has 36% support among likely voters, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll released last week. Mr. McDuffie has 25% support from likely voters.
Survey respondents said Ms. Lewis George seemed more poised to handle issues such as housing affordability, the rising cost of living and public schools.
Mr. McDuffie did have a decisive advantage in terms of who respondents thought could tackle crime more effectively. He had slimmer margins in his favor when it came to how he would manage the city’s relationship with the White House and its overall economy.
Maybe most damning for Mr. McDuffie was the poll showed that Ms. Lewis George rated as the far more honest candidate among likely voters. Mr. McDuffie, however, was seen as the more experienced choice between the two.
Veteran politicians are struggling against a crop of upstart progressive candidates who have won major races across the nation.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the fall to become the mayor of New York City, despite only serving two terms as a state assemblyman in the New York Legislature.
And Katie Wilson, also a democratic socialist, unseated Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell by 2,000 votes in November to take over the city’s top job.
Ms. Lewis George has been a member of the D.C. Council since 2020, while Mr. McDuffie served on the council from 2012 to 2026.
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