Washington, D.C
Crime a top issue for Washington, DC, Democratic primary following last year's surge in homicide, car jackings
- The June 4 Democratic primary in deep blue Washington D.C. will largely focus on crime and law enforcement after a significant spike in crime last year.
- The numbers of homicides and carjackings have fallen in 2024, but last year’s crime spree continues to affect this year’s politics, with leftist and centrist wings of the Democratic Party facing off in multiple races.
- Five of the 13 D.C. Council seats are on the ballot. The most competitive race has 10 candidates running to replace retiring Ward 7 councilmember Vincent Gray.
Tuesday’s Democratic primary in heavily Democratic Washington will largely focus on crime, policing and law enforcement — hot-button issues in a city where violent crime spiked dramatically last year.
Although the numbers for homicides and carjackings are down so far in 2024, the political dynamics and tensions from last year’s crime spree continue to play out this year, with leftist and centrist wings of the Democratic Party facing off in multiple races.
Five of the 13 council seats are on the ballot, with easily the most competitive being the race to replace retiring Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray. A former Washington mayor, Gray has served on the council for 13 years in two separate stints. A total of 10 candidates are vying to be his successor: Wendell Felder, Nate Fleming, Ebbon Allen, Kelvin Brown, Roscoe Grant, Eboni-Rose Thompson, Villareal “VJ” Johnson, Ebony Payne, Veda Rasheed and Denise Reed.
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No clear front-runner has emerged, although Gray has endorsed Felder, a longtime local political figure and city government official.
Gray, then the D.C. Council chairman, was elected mayor in 2011. But he only served one term before being defeated in the Democratic primary in 2015 by current Mayor Muriel Bowser. After his defeat, Gray returned to his old Ward 7 council seat in 2016, representing one of the poorest and Blackest wards in a fast-gentrifying capital city.
The 81-year-old has suffered from declining health for years and has fended off quiet speculation that he was no longer able to physically carry out his council duties. His office announced last month that Gray had suffered a second stroke.
A sign for an early voting site at the Stead Park Recreation Center stands in northwest Washington, D.C., on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Yoon)
The primary is largely viewed as a de facto election in a city where the Democratic Party dominates political life. However, losing primary candidates have regularly reclassified as independents in order to take another shot in November’s general election.
In other races, Ward 4 councilmember and pillar of the council’s leftist wing Janeese Lewis George is seeking a second term against a pair of challengers: Lisa Gore and Paul Johnson. Both have criticized George’s politics as soft on crime.
A pair of Bowser’s most recent mayoral challengers — Ward 7 Councilmember Trayon White and at-large Councilmember Robert White (no relation) are expected to retain their seats. Trayon White is being challenged by former high school principal Rahman Branch and Salim Adofo, a representative of D.C.’s neighborhood-level Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Robert White is being challenged by comedian and community activist Rodney “Red” Grant, a frequent candidate for multiple elected positions.
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto is running unopposed.
Two other members of D.C. Council whose seats aren’t being contested this year — Charles Allen of Ward 6 and Brianne Nadeau of Ward 1 — face recall campaigns aiming to gather enough signatures to force a special election. In both cases, the main criticisms of the councilmembers center around their criminal justice policies.
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Bowser, a former councilmember currently in the midst of a third mayoral term, generally doesn’t get publicly involved in the council races and has not endorsed any candidates. One notable exception came in 2018 when she openly supported a failed effort to oust then-at-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman.
Bowser has frequently sparred with the D.C. Council over public safety issues, charging that overly progressive policies have fueled spiraling violent crime rates in 2023 and damaged police morale.
Those differences came to a head last year when Bowser vetoed a sweeping rewrite of the criminal code, citing objections to the lowering of maximum sentencing guidelines for several crimes. The council quickly overrode her veto but the new criminal code was later overturned by the U.S. Congress — with multiple Democratic members citing Bowser’s opposition as proof that the council had strayed from mainstream Democratic policies.
Washington, D.C
Storm Team4 forecast, Enjoy a pleasant start to the week with temperatures in the 70s
4 things to know about the weather:
- “May” not “March” for now
- Next rain late Wednesday, Thursday
- Back to average by Friday
- Much colder next Week
The warmer weather we’ve waited months for will be with us for only three more days before the March Lion starts to roar again.
Monday and Tuesday will be the best days of the week by far. Sunny skies and temperatures running 20-25° above average. Plan for highs reaching the low 70s Monday and near 80° on Tuesday.
A series of cold fronts later in the week will send temperatures back to average 54° by the end of the week and then well below average for most of next week.
Clouds will return by Wednesday morning and rain chances will arrive no later than sunset. Wednesday will still be close to 80° and have our first taste of humidity in a while. Rain is likely from Wednesday evening through noon on Thursday as our first cold front arrives.
Thursday’s highs, likely near 70°, will occur before sunrise but gusty northwest winds will have temperatures falling steadily throughout the day. Expect temperatures in the 50s, rain for the morning commute and 40s with rain ending for the ride home.
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
Warm streak won’t last long
The good news is that Friday and the upcoming weekend look dry. Highs will be back in the mid-50s for Friday and Saturday but Sunday should get back into the mid-60s.
Another cold front will arrive early next week leading to temperatures running 10-15° below average. It’s also not entirely out of the question that there could be a wet snowflake or two on St. Patrick’s Day.
The return of the cold air next week will keep the cherry trees at bay so the odds of peak bloom occurring in March, like it has the last five to six years in a row, are looking slim at best.
QuickCast
MONDAY:
Mostly Sunny
Nice And Warm
Light Breeze
Wind: Southwest 5-10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 68° to 74°
MONDAY NIGHT:
Clear Skies
Remaining Mild
Patchy Areas Of Fog
Wind: Variable 5 mph
Chance Of Rain: 0%
LOWS: 46° to 52°
TUESDAY:
Mostly Sunny
Near Record Warmth
Light Breeze
Wind: Southwest 5-10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 76° to 82°
WEDNESDAY:
Breezy, Warm And Humid
Increasing Clouds
Showers By Evening
Wind: Southwest 10-25mph
Chance of Rain: 40%
HIGHS: 75° to 80°
THURSDAY:
Cloudy, Windy, Much Colder
Rain Likely Before 2pm
Falling Temperatures
Wind: Northwest 20-35 mph
Chance of Rain: 80%
HIGHS: 65° to 45°
Sunrise: 7:29 Sunset: 7:09
Average High: 54° Average Low: 37°
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
4 things to know about the weather:
- Feeling more like spring and summer over the next 72 hours.
- Monday and Tuesday will feature plenty of sunshine.
- Almost humid and definitely warm with strong storms possible on Wednesday.
- Rain with falling temperatures and windchill in the low 40s on Thursday.
Happy daylight saving! Today was this year’s first sunset after 7 p.m. — 7:08 p.m. to be exact.
For the rest of the evening, expect clear skies, although there could be an isolated shower, especially south and east of the D.C. area.
Monday will be a beautiful day with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s with plenty of sunshine.
Tuesday will get to around 80°. That could break a record of 79° sit back in 2016. Expect sunshine and dry conditions
By Wednesday, there is a possibility for severe storms in the afternoon and evening, but temperatures will once again approach 80°. Heavy rain and winds are the main thing to watch out for.
A pretty strong cold front will push through the area Thursday morning. That will bring some steady moderate rain to our area on Thursday. Temperatures will only be in the 50s, but the average high temperature for this time of year is also in the 50s, so this is actually closer to normal.
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
QuickCast
SUNDAY NIGHT
Mostly clear skies
Temps: 60s and 50s
MONDAY
Sunny
HIGHS: Lower 70s
TUESDAY
Partly Sunny
HIGHS: Near 80°
WEDNESDAY
Afternoon and evening storms
HIGHS: Near 80°
THURSDAY
HIGHS: Near 50°
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Four years ago, high school senior Aaron O’Brien wouldn’t believe he’d be studying chemistry now. Thanks to the Upward Bound program, that’s not hard to believe anymore.
“Before I came into the program, whew I don’t know who that man was,” O’Brien said.
Through free tutoring, test prep and college visits weekly, Upward Bound has helped millions of students like O’Brien, who attends McKinley Tech High School, pursue higher education.
The program is coordinated by colleges like George Washington University.
“The program has really expanded my vision for the future,” O’Brien said.
He joined Upward Bound as a freshman in high school.
“I never imagined I would be in these spaces and be able to network with so many different people,” he said.
“Upward Bound is basically a family,” said Layla Leiva, a senior at DC International School.
“A lot of us are first generation or low income. My parents do not know what the common app is, or standardized testing, and being able to have students that I can relate to meant the world for me,” she said.
Upward Bound falls under a series of federal TRIO programs funded by the Department of Education. Several programs in the series help veterans, students with disabilities, limited English and those facing foster care and homelessness.
Amid the Trump administration’s overhaul of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D.E.I.), however, TRIO program funding was slashed because words related to the inclusionary policies were mentioned in its grant applications.
Last fall, a group that advocates for TRIO sued the Department for over $40 million in slashed grants.
Last June, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon testified at a Senate budget hearing, saying that TRIO didn’t give her apartment enough oversight.
“I just think that we aren’t able to see the effectiveness across the board that we would normally look to see with our federal spending,” McMahon said at the hearing.
When funding froze, George Washington University paused most of its programing and cut nearly all its staff.
“It was a staff of just me, I was still working with my seniors,” said George Washington’s Upward Bound director, Darrell Thornton.
After growing up in a similar program, Thornton says he wanted to give back.
“I knew I wanted to be that educator that made a difference,” he said.
Earlier this year, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s cuts, restoring funding for the program.
“It kind of felt like I was cut off from my family for a little bit. When we got back, it was like thank God,” Kevin Williams, a junior at Ron Brown Preparatory College High School said.
The university was also able to bring its staff back.
“I’m so relieved to find out this program finally has funding and that this program will continue to support students in the way that it did for me,” Leiva said.
News4 reached out to the Department of Education, but have not heard back.
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