Darren Lyn

Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George currently leads the vote tally as of Wednesday versus six other candidates in the Washington, DC Democratic mayoral primary, and if victorious, could be following in the footsteps of the most notable democratic socialist in the United States — New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

With 73% of the ballots counted since Tuesday’s primary election in the nation’s capital, the Associated Press (AP) has Lewis George leading with 52.9% of the vote. Her closest challenger is Kenyan McDuffie, who currently holds 36.5%.

The mayor’s office in the District of Columbia has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, and political experts have said that any Republican challenger is not expected to put up meaningful competition for the mayor’s seat in the general election.

If Lewis George keeps her current lead and wins the majority, she will head to the November election as the favorite to replace three-term Mayor Muriel Bowser, who decided not to run for a fourth term.

A victory for Lewis George would be to the ire of US President Donald Trump, who told reporters that he could attempt a federal takeover of Washington if she won the mayor’s race, according to local media reports.

“We won’t put up with it,” Trump told reporters at a news conference.

Yet Trump has already seen a democratic socialist take power in America’s largest city, with the election of Mamdani as mayor of New York City.

Not to be outdone, the race for the mayor’s office in Los Angeles, California — the second largest city in the US by population — has a democratic socialist, Nithya Raman, in the runoff to vie for the position in November’s general election. Raman will face incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, who narrowly edged out Raman in the primary 34.3% to 29.0%.

In California’s 14th congressional district, two candidates will head to a runoff election to replace former US Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April amid allegations of sexual assault, including rape.

Aisha Wahab secured the first runoff spot on Tuesday with 38.3% of the vote, with the AP on Wednesday calling the second position to go to Melissa Hernandez, who tallied 17.2%.

The runoff election will be held on Aug. 18, with the winner finishing out the rest of Swalwell’s term.

At time of writing, the Associated Press estimates that around 64% of votes have been counted. Races where no candidate wins a majority of first choices will proceed to a ranked choice voting count – most likely the at-large Council and Ward 1 Democratic primaries. With RCV, all nominees will have support from a majority of their party – as will the winner in an at-large Council special election.

Mayor

In the closely watched mayoral race, Councilmember Janeese Lewis George leads with 52.8% of voters’ first choices, followed by former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie at 36.6%. If Lewis George remains above 50% as the remaining votes are counted, a ranked choice tabulation will not be necessary to determine the winner. 

Congressional delegate

Five candidates ran in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Councilmember Robert White won that election with 63.2% of first choices. Councilmember Brooke Pinto came in second with 21.5% of first choices.

At-large Council Democratic primary

Nine candidates ran for the Democratic nomination to succeed at-large Councilmember Anita Bonds. No candidate has won a majority of first choices. Oye Owolewa leads with 33.8%, followed by Lisa Raymond at 15.2% and Kevin Chavous at 13.8%. The result will likely be determined by a ranked choice voting count.

In a choose-one election, Owolewa would have won the nomination despite 66% of voters voting for another candidate. In 2022, for instance, Councilmember Anita Bonds won the Democratic primary for this seat with only 36% of first choices. Now, ranked choice voting will ensure the nominee – whether Owolewa or someone else – has majority support. 

At-large Council special election

In the special election for at-large Council, former Councilmember Elissa Silverman is leading with 54.8% of first choices, followed by appointed Councilmember Doni Crawford and Board of Education President Jacque Patterson, with 25% and 19% respectively. If Silverman maintains a majority of first choices, there will be no ranked choice tabulation.

Ward 1

In the competitive Democratic primary for Ward 1 councilmember, Aparna Raj leads with 47% of first choices. Depending on remaining ballots, Raj may win with a majority of first choices, or the winner may be determined by a ranked choice voting count.

Notably, in three Council races – the at-large Council Democratic primary, at-large Council special election, and Ward 1 Democratic primary – candidates cross-endorsed each other, asking voters to rank each other on their ballots. Past elections show that voters often listen to cross-endorsements by candidates they support, so it’s possible candidates who cross-endorsed will benefit when their races go to RCV tallies.

DC’s ranked choice voting elections offer a sharp contrast with the District’s recent past, in which candidates regularly won key primaries without majority support. Since 2012, every districtwide office and six of the eight wards have seen Democratic primaries won with less than 50% of the vote. Since 2020, Ward 2 and Ward 7 have had Democratic Council primaries won with less than 30% of the vote. 

FairVote will post more analysis of the DC election over the coming week. In the meantime, visit Grow Democracy DC to learn more about RCV in DC.