By Matt Delaney (The Washington Times)
The top candidates in the District’s mayoral primary are eager to attack each other’s records as the race between former D.C. Council colleagues Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie nears its end.
The final public forum last week between Ms. Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist, and Mr. McDuffie, the self-pitched “tough-on-crime” choice, was dominated by clashes over their respective council records ahead of the June 16 primary.
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in the fall that 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 Thursday forum with local NBC affiliate WRC-TV, as addressing a wave of “teen takeovers” has become a top priority for the city’s residents.
Ms. Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department leaders have argued in favor of an enhanced curfew law that would allow police to establish curfew “zones” in certain parts of town where teens regularly gather. The zones are part of a permanent curfew law undergoing congressional review. The curfew 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 after a viral brawl last month at a Navy Yard Chipotle.
Ms. Lewis George, Ward 4 Democrat, argued that the zones risk putting more children in contact with the federal law enforcement presence that President Trump has deployed across the District. 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 shared the dais. He also included a sunset provision for the expanded pretrial detention powers when they were added to 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 council member 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 the Navy Yard.
He said 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 was not working. Turning the focus to his competitor, Mr. McDuffie countered, “She, on the other hand, has developed a record of voting in a way that makes Washington, D.C., less safe.”
“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 better poised to address issues such as housing affordability, the rising cost of living and public schools.
Mr. McDuffie had a decisive advantage in respondents’ perceptions of who could tackle crime more effectively. He had narrower margins in his favor when it came to managing the city’s relationship with the White House and its overall economy.
Perhaps most damning for Mr. McDuffie, the poll showed that Ms. Lewis George was 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 liberal candidates who have won major races across the nation.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary and went on to win the general election to become the mayor of New York City, despite having served only three terms as a state assemblyman.
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 2021. Mr. McDuffie served on the council from 2012 to 2026.
This article was made available to WMAL via The Washington Times.
