Independents’ Day came early

Independents’ Day

Independents have long been unable to vote in D.C.’s party primary elections – a longstanding point of contention in a city filled with journalists and federal workers who may not want to publicly signal their political affiliation.

In 2024, 73% of D.C. voters said independents should be able to participate in party primary elections. Last week, independents were still excluded.

That will change in 2028, thanks to a D.C. Council vote yesterday. For the first time in D.C. history, voters who are not registered with a political party will be able to vote in the Democratic primary – often the only election that, in deeply-blue D.C., truly matters.

The vote to fund so-called “semi-open” primaries could signal the end of a years-long battle over how the District runs its primary elections. At the crux of the debate lies a delicate balancing act between protecting a party’s right to select its own nominee while including the growing number of voters disillusioned with the party system.

A recent CNN poll found that 47% of Americans identify as politically independent, a figure that has grown 10 points since President Donald Trump’s first term. And in D.C., a disproportionately large number of people have politically sensitive jobs and may not want to publicly signal their politics by registering with a party. Nearly 89,000 D.C. voters are not registered with a political party – more than 18% of the District’s electorate and the second largest political contingent in the city, far outnumbering registered Republicans.

But would their inclusion in last week’s election have changed the outcome? Experts agree: probably not.

I spent the last couple days chatting with political historians, strategists, advocates and councilmembers about the debate over independents’ place in our functionally one-party town. Here’s what you need to know:

The Pool Report

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has always been a tourist destination. But where tourists once may have stood in solemn reflection, they’re now gawking at dead ducks, demonstrators in “Team Algae” t-shirts and supposedly, a new AI surveillance system meant to catch vandals.

Trump has said that “vandals” are the reason he needs to drain the pool just weeks after a more than $14 million renovation, which he originally said would cost far less and last for 100 years. He has provided no evidence to support his claim that someone used a knife to slash a long gash in the bottom of the pool. (On Saturday, he said the gash was 250 feet long. On Monday, that increased to 300 feet, then again to 350 feet.)

The vandalism reports have led hordes of law enforcement to patrol the pool — a glance yesterday revealed members of the National Guard, U.S. Park Police and a smattering of officials from law enforcement agencies from around the country who have been temporarily deputized in D.C. to provide extra security during Freedom 250 events.

A White House official told me that, as of Monday night, six people have been arrested for vandalism at the Reflecting Pool. Another seven have been issued citations, the official said, and 17 police reports have been filed. According to internal law enforcement documents obtained by City Cast DC, one woman was arrested after officials found a peel of the “American flag blue” paint in her purse.

A Q&A With The (Likely) Mayoral MUA

At 11:36 p.m. on the night of D.C.’s primary election, now-Democratic mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George sat down with members of the media to answer some questions. At the time, my mind was racing with policy and campaign strategy questions. I ended up asking her about Trump’s threat to orchestrate a federal takeover of D.C. if she won. But as I watched the clip the next day, what caught my eye was her shimmery purple eyeshadow and her false lashes firmly in place. I wondered: How did her makeup still look as good as new?

Because social media algorithms can seemingly read our minds now, a video soon popped up on my Instagram feed of Lewis George’s election night glam from “@shannieonthebeat.” It turns out, Shannon “Shannie” Cosby has been doing Lewis George’s makeup for the past decade. What began as a one-time appointment for a birthday party in 2016 turned into Cosby helping Lewis George get ready for her wedding, baby shower and eventually, a mayoral campaign.

Over the last six months, Cosby, 39, has done Lewis George’s makeup for almost every campaign event leading up till election night. The makeup artist known for her bridal work seems poised to become the unofficial “mayoral MUA,” so I sat down with her for some of her secrets. Spoiler alert, it involves four different setting sprays and a belief that women can be both glamorous and professional.