This story was last updated at 2:40 a.m. on 6/17/26.
Janeese Lewis George ended Tuesday night with a significant lead in the mayoral race over Kenyan McDuffie, likely clinching her win in an election that saw a strong showing from progressive candidates.
The current Ward 4 councilmember stopped short of declaring victory, but made an emotional speech at her election night party.
“If there was ever any doubt, let it now be laid to rest. It is the people of D.C. who elect the mayor of D.C.,” she said. “This moment is for those who refuse to surrender their hope … Tonight, we are making history by showing this country that the dream of America is still alive in its capital city.”
As of midnight on Wednesday, Lewis George had received 53% of the vote to McDuffie’s 37%. McDuffie would need a very strong showing in the remaining ballots to overtake Lewis George.
Last week, President Donald Trump threatened to “take back Washington and run it on a federal basis” if she won. Lewis George told reporters on Tuesday night that she suspected the threats actually helped her candidacy. A last-minute fine from the Office of Campaign Finance also doesn’t appear to have dampened enthusiasm for her campaign.
“The sense that I get from a lot of folks is that they would expect a McDuffie administration to be a continuation in some sense of what the Bowser administration has had to offer,” said advisory neighborhood commissioner Josh Jacobson, who voted for Lewis George.
If current results hold, Lewis George will still have to win the November general election — but the Democratic nominee has historically always been the city’s next mayor.
It is the city’s first election held using ranked-choice voting, and the initial results (which don’t include some mail ballots) only reflect part of the first round of votes. Any race without a majority winner will move to another round of votes.
But several races were over as soon as the first results came in. Robert White handily won the race for the congressional delegate seat to replace Eleanor Holmes Norton, with 63% of the vote. Incumbents Zachary Parker and Charles Allen were reelected to their D.C. Council seats representing Wards 5 and 6 respectively, and Brian Schwalb will serve another term as D.C.’s attorney general.
Elissa Silverman, a former progressive At-Large Councilmember, also currently holds more than 50% of the vote in the At-Large special election to serve out the remainder of McDuffie’s term on the D.C. Council, while progressive candidates Aparna Raj and Oye Owolewa each have significant leads in the Ward 1 and At-Large races, respectively. Their emphasis on affordability issues, particularly housing and working families, appears to have resonated with voters.
Change can be a winning political philosophy, said Bill Lightfoot, an attorney and former At-Large Councilmember who chaired Mayor Muriel Bowser’s first mayoral campaign. “If you can convince the voters you’re going to bring about change, and some kind of positive change, you’ll normally win,” he said.
Two hours after polls closed, long lines at some polling places kept them open late, delaying the report of first-round results, according to NOTUS reporter Martin Austermuhle. The partial results show that Ward 8 has the fewest ballots counted so far, at just over 7,400, whereas Ward 4 has the highest number of ballots counted, at nearly 17,000.
Lisa D.T. Rice, co-founder and CEO of pro-ranked-choice voting nonprofit Grow Democracy DC, found that voters made use of their new ability to rank candidates — particularly in highly contested races like the open At-Large seat, which had nine candidates (few of whom have name recognition). “People are hearing about it, and they’re eager to learn about it, and they’re voting,” Rice said.
While most voters honed in on the frontrunners, some said they were able to use the new system to express broader political viewpoints. Bloomingdale resident Joseph De St Aubin said he primarily supported Lewis George’s campaign, but ranked Rini Sampath as his first choice for mayor, “hoping that she gets a really strong support base that shows a lot of people do care about new approaches to city government.”
Despite the magnitude of this election, and a plethora of choices, some still struggled to decide how to vote. Two weeks before the primary, a quarter of voters were undecided, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.
“People I talk to really don’t understand the candidates’ position on different issues and don’t make a major distinction between the candidates right now,” Lightfoot said.
He cited a variety of reasons: cuts to local media, particularly The Washington Post, that would typically cover elections in-depth, as well as a lack of detail from candidates on their policy platforms. “If the candidates are speaking in platitudes and broad generalities about how they’re going to fight for D.C. and affordability, then no issues bubble to the surface,” he added.
BOE has said that it aims to publish additional rounds by Sunday, June 21; Wednesday, June 24; and a final set of results by Friday, June 26.
Mayor
In line with pre-election polling, Janeese Lewis George led the pack Tuesday night at about 53% of the first-choice votes. She was followed by Kenyan McDuffie, who came in at nearly 37%.
The other three candidates lag far behind: Gary Goodweather received 3% of the first-choice results, followed by Rini Sampath at 2.9%, Vincent Orange at 2.7%, Hope Solomon with 1%, and Ernest Johnson at just half a percent.
Despite the addition of ranked-choice voting, this has been a two-person race between Lewis George and McDuffie. They share a similar path — both are native Washingtonians with experience as prosecutors and on the D.C. Council — but offered different visions for the city.
Lewis George leaned on a progressive platform that focused heavily on housing affordability, with promises to make childcare more accessible and lower utility bills. While McDuffie has similarly brought up affordability, he ran a more moderate, pro-business campaign that latched onto public safety as a core issue, especially in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
Congressional delegate
At-Large Councilmember Robert claimed victory with 63% of votes. In a distant second was his colleague on the council, Brooke Pinto, at over 21% of the vote, who called White on election night to concede.
Kinney Zalesne, a former fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, received about 8% of the vote, followed by recent Norton staffer Trent Holbrook and former nuclear regulator Greg Jaczko.
Norton is stepping down after three decades in office. Her retirement represents a new chapter in the city’s quest for statehood, and a chance for a different approach to the delegate role. White’s win means there will be a special election to fill his council seat.
At-Large councilmember
Nine Democratic candidates vied for the open At-Large seat after longtime Councilmember Anita Bonds announced she wouldn’t run for another term.
Oye Owolewa, D.C.’s shadow representative, ended Tuesday with the most first-choice votes at over 33%. He’s followed by Lisa Raymond at 15%, Kevin Chavous at nearly 14%, and Greg Jackson at 11%.
Behind them are Candace Tiana Nelson, Dwight Davis, Fred Hill, Dyana Forester, and Leniqua’dominique Jenkins, in order of most votes to least.
Despite the significance of the seat — a four-year term representing the entire city — this race has been a wild card. Few candidates had much name recognition and the race received relatively little coverage. Numerous progressive organizations threw their support behind Owolewa, and he was the most known to voters from his work as shadow representative.
At-Large councilmember (special election)
In the independent special election to serve out the rest of Kenyan McDuffie’s term, Elissa Silverman leads with over 54% of the vote. Doni Crawford is in distant second at nearly 25%, followed by Jacque Patterson in third place with 19%.
The race is a bit of déjà vu — Silverman held this seat for eight years, before losing to Kenyan McDuffie in 2022. This time, she faced Crawford, a former McDuffie staffer who was temporarily appointed to the seat after he stepped down to run for mayor.
If Silverman holds her lead, she’ll need to win again in November to serve a full four-year term.
Ward 1 councilmember
Tenant organizer Aparna Raj leads the race with 46% of the first-choice vote. She’s followed by advisory neighborhood commissioners Miguel Trindade Deramo and Rashida Brown, who have 20% and 17% of the vote, respectively.
Former Bowser appointee Jackie Reyes Yanes has nearly 10% of the vote, trailed by nonprofit executive director Terry Lynch with 6%.
Ward 1 is one of the city’s progressive strongholds, and the three leading candidates all espoused similar positions. But in the first race without an incumbent in decades, Raj — a former DSA chair — consolidated support among many of the city’s labor and progressive groups.
Ward 5 councilmember
Councilmember Zachary Parker faced two challengers to his bid for re-election: clean energy policy staffer Bridget French and senior member of the D.C. Democratic Party Bernita Carmichael.
Parker leads at 76% of first-choice results. Carmichael is in a far second at 15%, and French is in third with over 7% of the vote.
Ward 6 councilmember
Councilmember Charles Allen ran for re-election, facing Gloria Nauden, former ANC commissioner and current CEO of Philanthropy DMV, and Michael Murphy, a litigator.
Allen leads at over 74% of first-choice results. Nauden is in a distant second at over 18%, and Murphy is in third with over 6% of the vote.
Non-ranked-choice voting elections
Several races had fewer than three people on the ballot, including council chair, Ward 3 councilmember, and attorney general.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb handily won re-election with 90% of the vote. His opponent, J.P. Szymkowicz, received 9.1% of the vote.
With no one else on the ballot, Phil Mendelson will continue to serve as council chair, a role he has held for over 10 years. Similarly, Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin had no challengers.
Correction: Early partial results show Janeese Lewis George with a commanding lead. The Board of Elections has not given an exact percentage of votes tallied.
