D.C. Heads to the Polls in High-Stakes Primary

D.C. residents cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary election, where the city voted to select a new mayor for the first time in 12 years and a new D.C. delegate for the first time in 35.

Neither Mayor Muriel Bowser nor Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is seeking reelection, meaning this election is a consequential one for the District and its autonomy as it faces a political sea change under President Donald Trump. The winners will still need to compete against token opposition in November, but in deep-blue D.C., winning the Democratic primary is tantamount to winning the election.

This election also marks D.C.’s first foray into ranked-choice voting, where voters can rank up to five candidates for each race in order of preference. The first candidate to receive more than 50% of the vote is declared the winner. Election officials have warned that D.C. might not get results for up to 10 days.

Despite this year’s high stakes, early voting numbers remain low. Before polls opened Tuesday, the Board of Elections had received 68,603 ballots from early voting, mail and drop boxes, which accounts for less than 15 percent of D.C.’s registered voters. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m.

Mayoral front-runner Janeese Lewis George was among those early voters, casting her vote last week on U Street NW. Her primary opponent, Kenyan McDuffie, cast his ballot Tuesday morning at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center.

The two have grown increasingly hostile toward each other in the run-up to Election Day. Lewis George has cast McDuffie as an unambitious establishment pawn and Trump-like grifter, while McDuffie has called Lewis George’s ideas unrealistic and a threat to public safety. But when the two candidates crossed paths at Hillcrest Recreation Center in Southeast on Tuesday, they were the most collegial they’d been in months and shook hands, according to The Washington Post.

The détente did not last long. Around 3 p.m., the chair of Lewis George’s campaign posted photos appearing to show a D.C. government truck delivering tables for McDuffie’s campaign. The D.C. Department of Public Works said it is investigating alleged misuse of a city vehicle and has placed the employee on administrative leave. “The misuse of government resources for campaign purposes will not be tolerated,” the department said in an X post. McDuffie’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s not the city’s only investigation in the mayoral race. Last week, the Office of Campaign Finance fined Lewis Geroge’s campaign $16,000 after investigators concluded her team improperly coordinated with labor unions and an independent expenditure committee — allegations the campaign has emphatically denied.

As for the delegate race, D.C. Council colleagues Brooke Pinto and Robert White are facing off to become the third person in history to serve as D.C.’s nonvoting representative in the U.S. House. Other races include the at-large seat on the city council, council members for Wards 1, 3, 5 and 6, council chair, attorney general and a special election for a separate at-large council seat.

At the West End Library on Tuesday, far more voters seemed to be dropping off their mail-in ballots than going inside to cast their vote in person. Some D.C. residents said this was a result of their first time voting with ranked choice: if they were going to rank up to five candidates, they wanted to research each one as they voted.

Others, like 79-year-old Phoebe Peacock, voted in person but bypassed the ranked-choice voting system altogether, instead opting to rank their first choice and no one else. The Foggy Bottom resident and fifth-generation Washingtonian said she voted for Lewis George and Pinto because she and her family had been represented by both women at different points during their time living in D.C. and were satisfied with their leadership.

“I just feel like I didn’t know enough about all of them to be fair,” she said of not ranking other candidates.

Mackenzie Walter, 30, woke up in her Adams Morgan home Tuesday still undecided. She knew she was voting for Ward 1 council candidate Aparna Raj for D.C. Council because campaign volunteers had knocked on her door a couple of times, but she wasn’t sure about her choice for mayor or D.C. delegate.

When she cast her ballot at Marie Reed Elementary School around 5 p.m., she voted for Lewis George and White, won over by their “progressive values.”

The D.C. resident of five years said she didn’t want to rank for McDuffie because some of the things she read had left a bad taste in her mouth, though she declined to specify.

“Not that the smear campaign worked — well maybe it did — but I heard some not great things,” she said.

At the polling center in Eastern Market, a 50-person line had wrapped around the corner by midafternoon.

Ryan Greene, 31, and Marie Rush, 29, both voted for Robert White in the delegate race, saying they supported his previous mayoral bid. Rush said he thought White had a better sense of the reality of the position than Pinto, as the delegate race is not an extension of the city council. Both Greene and Rush agreed that the primary results, whenever they come, will be vital.

“The choice we make today will have an impact for the next 10 years,” Greene said.

By 6 p.m., a line of roughly 50 people had formed inside Marie Reed Elementary School. Volunteers for Lewis George and at-large council candidate Doni Crawford handed out flyers, while council candidate Raj asked incoming voters to rank her first. Parents and students hosted a bake sale for the school as the song “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” blared.

Sammy Ledermann, 44, brought his 6-year-old daughter to vote with him. At her behest, he ranked Jackie Reyes Yanes first for Ward 1 councilmember. His daughter had met Yanes at a bus stop months ago and encouraged him to vote for her since.

A Swiss citizen, Ledermann ranked Lewis George first, but couldn’t vote for D.C. delegate because non-U.S. citizens can’t vote in elections for federal seats.

He was not alone. Registered independents, like 36-year-old Genevieve Cowan, could vote in the special election for D.C. council but not in the mayoral or delegate races.

“I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t get the chance to do that,” said Cowan.

Despite the potential delay in results, both mayoral candidates hosted election night parties — McDuffie's at The Park at 14th and Lewis George's at the Howard Theatre, where she launched her campaign.

Energized McDuffie supporters crammed into the third and fourth floors at The Park after polls closed. Amid the crowd of mostly Black and middle-aged voters were ministers, developers, city officials and lobbyists.

The crowd roared when McDuffie took the podium around 9:30 p.m. Along with thanking his team and stressing the need for a mayor who can stand up to Trump and keep city dwellers safe, he addressed the fact that ranked-choice voting meant a delay in results.

"The reality is, it’s going to take a while before we know the results of the election,” McDuffie said, referring to the expected delay because of ranked-choice voting. “We respect this process and we will see it through all the way to the end and ensure every vote is counted.”

Jianni Woodson-Brooks, 23, said he believed McDuffie was the best candidate to unite the city. A D.C. native living in Ward 5, Woodson-Brooks has seen the District change over the years.

“The main issue we have as a community … is different groups of people don’t understand each other,” he said as McDuffie’s party wound down for the night.

Regardless of who wins, though, Woodson-Brooks is hopeful the next mayor will usher the city forward toward positive change. “It’s not one side versus the other,” he said. “When I think about maximizing ourself as a city or a community, we have to move forward as a unit regardless of who wins.”

At the Howard Theatre, where Lewis George held her election night party, the mood was hopeful and jubilant among a multiracial crowd that skewed younger. Though D.C. election officials have warned that results could take up to 10 days, that did nothing to stifle the optimism. One woman in a purple Lewis George shirt exclaimed: “I’m hoping we get a result tonight!”

Lewis George took the stage for the first time shortly before 11 p.m. to thunderous applause. The crowd erupted when she announced preliminary results, which had her leading the race with over 52 percent of the vote.

Standing on stage in her signature lilac purple with campaign staff, family and labor union officials behind her, she addressed the crowd: "Tonight belongs to the postal worker on the early route, the nurse coming home from a double, the teacher who buys supplies out of her pocket, the childcare worker who loves on our babies all day but still can’t make ends meet,” she said. “This moment is for those who refuse to surrender their hope.”

As supporters including council members Charles Allen and Zachary Parker began to trickle out of The Howard Theatre just before midnight, Lewis George sat down with a group of reporters. She credited her focus on affordability, government services and standing up to Trump for her success. She said her campaign plans to wait for more of the votes to come in to declare victory, but said she wasn't sure exactly what percent of votes she’d like to see counted before declaring.

Although there won't be a traditional concession phone call between candidates tonight, she said she hoped to speak with McDuffie. She said voters approached her at the polls to tell her, “after this we want to be one D.C.”

“And that starts with me and Kenyan,” she said.