Kenyan McDuffie conceded the District’s Democratic mayoral primary to Janeese Lewis George on Thursday, clearing a path for Lewis George to become the next mayor of Washington, D.C.
Earlier in the count, 64% of ballots had been tallied and Lewis George held a lead in the race.
This was the first time the city used a ranked-choice system for its primary; under the system, voters can pick one candidate or rank some or all of them, and candidates are eliminated until a candidate receives 50% of the vote. All registered voters in the District are automatically mailed ballots, and many voters mail in or drop off their ballots.
In his concession statement McDuffie said he had called Lewis George "to congratulate her on her victory and wish her success as she prepares for the general election." The Associated Press had not yet called the race at the time he conceded, and vote-counting records showed Lewis George tracking ahead of McDuffie in all but one of the city’s wards since counting began.
At Lewis George's post-election event on Tuesday night she pledged to protect the city's autonomy, saying, "If there was any doubt, right now we lay it to rest. It is the people of D.C. who elect the mayor." At McDuffie's event he said D.C. was "under threat," but added, "Donald Trump does not run Washington, D.C." On Wednesday morning McDuffie urged patience as ballots were being counted, saying, "We respect that process, and we are going to see it through."
Both Lewis George and McDuffie said they wanted to keep the Trump administration's footprint on the city light and to make sure D.C. keeps home rule. The president has sought to increase his administration's influence and presence in D.C., including by a temporary takeover of federal law enforcement and the continued presence of the National Guard in the District's streets, and he has said those measures have made the city safer.
Lewis George is a third-generation Washingtonian, is 38 years old and has represented the District's 4th Ward on the D.C. Council since 2021. She ran a progressive campaign focused on universal child care, social housing and public safety reforms and proposed building 72,000 new housing units; McDuffie proposed 12,000 new units and pitched himself as a more pro-business pragmatist.
The city is facing a $1.1 billion budget gap, and city officials have blamed federal funding cuts and a shrinking federal workforce for deep economic pain. Those federal moves contributed to the region having the greatest number of job losses of any metro area in 2025, and Washington remains dependent on federal projects such as upgrades to Union Station and redevelopment of the RFK Stadium campus.
Lewis George has said she would rescind the order allowing the city's police to coordinate alongside federal immigration agents and take a hard legal stance against any attempts to encroach on the District's autonomy, and she said she would "actively tell our employees to resist" if the Metropolitan Police Department were federalized. She would face no major challenger in November's general election, putting her on a glide path to take the reins from Mayor Muriel Bowser next year and marking the first change in executive leadership since Bowser took office in January 2015.
Lewis George collected endorsements from several top unions, while McDuffie drew support from establishment Democrats, including former Mayors Sharon Pratt and Tony Williams and former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.