A sign for an early voting site at the Stead Park Recreation Center stands in northwest Washington, D.C., on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert Yoon)
The primary is largely viewed as a de facto election in a city where the Democratic Party dominates political life. However, losing primary candidates have regularly reclassified as independents in order to take another shot in November's general election.
In other races, Ward 4 councilmember and pillar of the council's leftist wing Janeese Lewis George is seeking a second term against a pair of challengers: Lisa Gore and Paul Johnson. Both have criticized George's politics as soft on crime.
A pair of Bowser's most recent mayoral challengers — Ward 7 Councilmember Trayon White and at-large Councilmember Robert White (no relation) are expected to retain their seats. Trayon White is being challenged by former high school principal Rahman Branch and Salim Adofo, a representative of D.C.'s neighborhood-level Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Robert White is being challenged by comedian and community activist Rodney "Red" Grant, a frequent candidate for multiple elected positions.
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto is running unopposed.
Two other members of D.C. Council whose seats aren’t being contested this year — Charles Allen of Ward 6 and Brianne Nadeau of Ward 1 — face recall campaigns aiming to gather enough signatures to force a special election. In both cases, the main criticisms of the councilmembers center around their criminal justice policies.
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Bowser, a former councilmember currently in the midst of a third mayoral term, generally doesn’t get publicly involved in the council races and has not endorsed any candidates. One notable exception came in 2018 when she openly supported a failed effort to oust then-at-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman.
Bowser has frequently sparred with the D.C. Council over public safety issues, charging that overly progressive policies have fueled spiraling violent crime rates in 2023 and damaged police morale.
Those differences came to a head last year when Bowser vetoed a sweeping rewrite of the criminal code, citing objections to the lowering of maximum sentencing guidelines for several crimes. The council quickly overrode her veto but the new criminal code was later overturned by the U.S. Congress — with multiple Democratic members citing Bowser's opposition as proof that the council had strayed from mainstream Democratic policies.
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