Janeese Lewis George leads vote count in Washington, DC Democratic mayoral primary

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.