Janeese Lewis George Declares Victory; McDuffie Concedes
By • June 18, 2026 0 830
By Francis Rienzo and Robert Devaney
For those who haven’t been paying attention, here’s a local newsflash: a political earthquake has occurred in Washington. A new era in D.C. politics is about to begin, as democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George is set to become mayor of Washington, D.C., in 2027.
She declared victory today at a press conference at Busboys & Poets on 14th Street, saying she will be “mayor of everybody … one D.C. united.”
Lewis George is leading the D.C. mayoral primary election with 53 percent, according to the DC Board of Elections, with 73 percent of ballots counted so far.
Her main opponent, Democrat Kenyan McDuffie, behind with 36 percent of the vote, conceded defeat earlier today and said in a statement: “While the final certification process will continue, it is clear that the voters have chosen a different path.” He said he phoned Lewis George to congratulate her.
Lewis George will replace Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is retiring after three terms. She will make history as a democratic socialist mayor. Stepping away from Bowser’s softer approach to President Trump, Lewis George has vowed to “not back down” from Trump’s administration.
Last week, President Trump had a last-minute comment on the election, threatening to take over D.C. and pause home rule by running Washington on a “federal basis.”
Elsewhere on the June 16 ballot, Robert White is the projected winner of the D.C. non-voting delegate for Congress, ending the streak of Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has represented the city in the House of Representatives since 1991. White easily defeated fellow Council member Brooke Pinto and Kinney Zalesne, a former employee of the Democratic National Committee.
This primary election is also monumental as it’s the first conducted under the District’s new ranked-choice voting system. Instead of voting for just one candidate, voters are allowed to rank up to five candidates in order of preference.
Lewis George led in seven of D.C.’s eight wards, trailing McDuffie only in affluent Ward 3. She will join democratic socialists Oye Owolewa and Aparna Raj, who are leading the District Council races; White, a progressive; and Elissa Silverman, who is running to replace McDuffie on the Council.
In a statement on Wednesday, Pinto congratulated White, who previously served on Norton’s staff, saying “as this election season closes, let’s all remember we are on the same team in D.C.” They ran a fiery campaign against each other for the non-voting delegate spot, disagreeing on teen curfew zones. Pinto retains her Ward 2 Council seat. In her conceding statement, Zalesne congratulated White and pledged to continue to advance D.C. statehood and defend home rule.
In her election night speech at the Howard Theater, Mayor-elect Lewis George said, “Let’s show them what the government can do.” She aimed her campaign at youth voters and anti-Trump progressives, while McDuffie ran a more moderate campaign that tended to appeal to older voters.
This election has revealed a distinct progressive shift in the District, focusing on progressive labor and democratic socialist values. Phil Mendelson, unopposed Council chairperson, is a more moderate Democrat whose new term may balance this out.
Michael Schaffer at City Cast DC wrote about some early takeaways this morning: “The Green Team is dead — and the Purple Team is in charge.”
“The centrists were out of gas. Janeese Lewis George ran on a platform that repudiated not just Kenyan McDuffie and Muriel Bowser but D.C.’s whole 21st-century business-friendly ideology. Even the D.C.-based Substacker (and bitter JLG antagonist) Matthew Yglesias agreed that the old guard was done — and didn’t seem too broken up about it. ‘After twelve years of Bowser, the voters clearly wanted change and they were *right* to want change,’ he wrote
“Goodbye Green. WAMU’s Alex Koma grabbed an astonishing quote from Bill Lightfoot, former council member and establishment pillar. ‘The Green Team is over, no doubt about that,’ he said, referring to the network of donors and pols that elevated former mayor Adrian Fenty and then Bowser and have for 20 years been the most powerful coalition in mayoral politics.
“Hello, Purple! Instead of the longtime network of moneyed insiders, people are talking about a ‘Purple Team,’ named for Lewis George’s campaign color. Unions and D.C.’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter (which calls its turnout campaign the ‘Big Red Machine’) are credited with out-organizing lackluster centrist campaigns.”
Results have not been certified, as the ballots continue to be counted. Round-by-round results will be available on June 21, according to the Board of Elections.
