Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George opens up lead in Washington, D.C., mayoral primary
With about two-thirds of the expected vote counted, Lewis George has 53% of the first-place votes, with former City Council member Kenyan McDuffie — who previously held a citywide at-large council seat — in second place at 37%. The rest of the vote is scattered among five other Democratic hopefuls.
With more votes to count, it’s not clear whether the race will go to a ranked-choice tabulation, which is necessary if no candidate gets a majority of first-place votes. In that scenario, support from lower-performing candidates is reallocated to those voters’ next choices until one candidate gets a majority of the vote.
In either case, Lewis George has built up a commanding position against her main rival, McDuffie, as she seeks to become the latest democratic socialist to take up a big-city mayorship in the U.S. — with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani the most prominent example.
In Washington, the candidates have sparred for months as they pitched the city on how they plan to lower crime and make life in the nation’s capital more affordable.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/democratic-socialist-janeese-lewis-george-opens-lead-washington-dc-may-rcna350035