With just seven months until the primary, we still don’t know who will be running for D.C. mayor. No candidate has officially announced, but three names have emerged as possibilities.
Muriel Bowser is heading into the final year of her third term as mayor of the District. She was expected to announce over the summer whether she will seek a fourth term, but major events such as the announcement of the Washington Commanders’ planned return to D.C. and the federal surge have caused Bowser to delay her decision.
In that void, other names have started to emerge as possible candidates. D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie tell News4 they are thinking about running.
Recently, when asked when she might announce her decision, given others are now considering running, Bowser responded: “Nobody has to wait on me to make any decision …. I’ve run for a long time, a number of times, and my process is always the same. If I want, I tell voters what I’m going to do, when I know what I’m going to do and I’m ready to tell voters. And that will be my process this time.”
At a recent event with the mayor, we asked Lewis George, the councilmember from Ward 4, about speculation that she might run.
“I’m still considering and I’ll be making a decision very soon,” she told us. “… I mean, I always say I’m a daughter of the District who puts people first, and that’s always what I’ve been about. Being a daughter of the District who puts people first, and I think what [New York City Mayor-elect Zohran] Mamdani’s done in New York City is great. A mayor who I think has been amazing as well is Michelle Wu in Boston, and I really love her leadership style.”
On Friday, during WAMU’s Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood, McDuffie said he’s also thinking about running.
“For me, it’s a similar thought process for every election I’ve ever run in the District of Columbia, where it starts with my family, having a conversation with my wife and my two daughters, my extended family, my political advisors,” McDuffie said. “But it also is listening to residents. I have been approached by residents across the District of Columbia, from labor leaders to people in the business community to people in the faith community who’ve been encouraging me to really give serious thought to running for mayor.”
If McDuffie were to run, he would likely have to change his party affiliation and resign from the D.C. Council. McDuffie is currently a registered independent and could not hold his current At-Large Council seat as a Democrat.
We will know more about who’s running by late January, when candidates can pick up petitions to get on the ballot.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/LdYVBMU
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