Soft-On-Crime Socialist Set To Run Nation’s Capital Ravaged By Teen Takeovers
Janeese Lewis George, a socialist and Democratic City Councilwoman representing Ward 4 in Washington D.C. as 2021, has won the city’s Democratic mayoral primary, positioning her to become the next leader of the deep blue city. She secured 52.9% of first-choice votes,defeating her main challenger,Kenyan McDuffie,who received 36.4%. The race was the first D.C. mayoral election using ranked-choice voting, which contributed to the delay in calling the results. Lewis george is known for focusing on issues like cost of living, public services, and police reform, opposing a youth curfew and advocating for investment in safe spaces for teens. She is supported by groups such as the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. her campaign and positions have included criticism of crime policies and debates over city safety measures, amidst ongoing challenges like teen takeovers and violence, with city efforts including deployments of national guard troops.
Socialist City Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George won Washington D.C.’s Democratic mayoral primary putting her on track to be the deep blue city’s next leader.
Lewis George won 52.9% of the first choice vote, beating out her closest challenger former City Councilman Kenyan McDuffie who garnered 36.4%, the Associated Press reported Thursday with 75% of the vote counted. The AP called the race nearly two full days after polls closed Tuesday night.
The race took long to call partly due to the fact that this was the first D.C. mayoral election using ranked-choice voting. No other candidate in the race received more than 4% of the vote.
Lewis George has represented the District’s Ward 4 since 2021, when she defeated a more moderate Democrat in the primary. During her campaign she has been compared to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and she is a self-described socialist. Like Mamdani, her campaign focused on cost-of-living issues and strengthening public services.
Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has led the nation’s capital since 2015, did not seek reelection to a fourth term.
McDuffie has served as D.C. council for Ward 5 for nearly ten years before spending three as an at-large council member.
During Lewis George’s last reelection campaign, her opponents criticized her for being soft on crime. McDuffie has pointed out that Lewis George did not vote for sweeping crime bills in 2023 and voted against allowing landlords to evict potentially violent tenants, according to WAMU 88.5.
Lewis George told Fox 5 that her vision is “someone who addresses retention, recruitment, morale and police enforcement.”
Teen takeovers have been infiltrating D.C. leading to several arrests and violence happening within the city. Lewis George said she was against the idea of implementing a youth curfew to combat teen takeovers and teen violence, according to USA Today.
Lewis George has claimed that the cities teen takeovers can be solved by “investing more in safe spaces and activities for teenagers,” according to the outlet.
“It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, masked [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] ICE agents who are in our city,” Lewis George said in May 2025. “These are the people enforcing this law in our young people, and these individuals are not trained in deescalation,” she added on, according to USA Today.
McDuffie criticized Lewis George’s take on crime and claimed that “doing nothing is not an option,” USA Today reported.
In an effort to crack down on crime President Donald Trump deployed national guard to D.C. in August 2025.
Lewis George was endorsed by the Working Families Party, the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America and Our America, according to the AP.
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