Janeese Lewis George had a conclusive majority in the race for the Democratic nomination for mayor as the DC Board of Elections (DCBOE) posted their first count just before midnight on June 16.
The count included 103,000 votes received to that point at the end of Primary Election Day. Janeese Lewis George, who currently represents Ward 4 on DC Council, was in the lead with nearly 54 percent of the first rank vote. McDuffie had 36.57 percent.
Lewis George was at Eastern Market voting center late Tuesday morning, stopping in at Tunnicliff’s where her campaign manager, Tommy Wells, was having lunch with Ward 6 incumbent Councilmember Charles Allen.
Twelve hours later, when DC BOE posted the first vote counts, she had brought in the majority of votes on the first ballot and is likely to win the Democratic nomination.
“If there was ever any doubt, let it now be laid to rest,” Lewis George said at her watch party. “It is the people of DC who elect the Mayor of DC.”
Conclusive Leads
But many races besides the mayoral, were fairly conclusive as of Tuesday night. Robert White, Sr. had 63 percent of the first choice votes in the race for Delegate to the House of Representatives; Pinto had 21.45 percent. It is another historic contest. Incumbent Eleanor Holmes Norton will step down at the end of 2026 after 35 years in office.
White, who served as legislative counsel for Holmes Norton in 2008, was was at the Eastern Market voting center late Tuesday afternoon, where voters stopped him to take photographs. He said it was his 14th stop that day. “I feel pretty confident,” he said. Everybody knows the decision about who’s going to be DC’s next leader in Congress is very important, and I’m trusting the voters of the District to make thright choice,” he said. “But I’m going to be working until the end.”
Charles Allen easily won the Democratic nomination for Ward 6 Councilmember, coming in with nearly 75 percent of first choice votes, despite two challengers. Gloria Ann Nauden pulled in nearly 19 percent and Michael Murphy 6 and-a-half. Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker and Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb also clinched a re-nomination; in the latter race, Schwalb pulled in 90 percent of the vote while 9 percent went to challenger J.P. Szymkowicz.
DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson and Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin had no challengers and easily won the Democratic nomination.
RCV in Action
Any race for a party nomination where there is not a clear majority winner in the first round would move to the second round until a majority is acheived. That appears to be the case for the At-Large Democratic nomination, where Oye Owolewa has 33 percent of the first-rank vote, an 18-point lead over the next closest candidate, Lisa Raymond. And the Ward 1 race is also not yet over; Aparna Raj has just over 47 percent of the vote, a strong lead over Rashida Brown (17 percent) and Miguel Trindade Deramo (20 percent) but not yet the majority required to win the nomination.
One Final Race: At-Large Special Election
There is one June 16 election that is not a primary. That’s the special election to occupy the independent at-large seat on DC Council vacated by Kenyan McDuffie in January, Elissa Silverman has 54.75 percent of the vote, a strong lead over interim councilmember Doni Crawford, who pulled in nearly 25 percent. She would serve the remainder of the term, but will have to run in the November General Election to take office again in January 2027. According to DC Code, that seat must be occupied by someone from a party not in the majority, which historically has meant they must not be a Democrat.
More Votes to Count
There are still more votes to count. DC BOE will count all ballots postmarked by June 16 and received by June 26. The next update to vote counts is expected June 21. Results are not final until they are certified; that is expected to happen July 17. And all candidates will run in the November General Election. But in blue DC, the Democratic Primary is often a good indicator of who will win overall.
Counting Herself In
The entire voting center in the North Hall at Eastern Market burst into applause Tuesday when Abbie walked in. That’s because it was the 18-year-old’s first time voting.
“It wasn’t hard at all,” she said of her first voting experience, also the District’s first election using ranked choice voting. Abbie encouraged everyone to get out and vote. “It’s really not that difficult.”
For most of her life, the District has had one Mayor, Muriel Bowser. Abbie is participating in the first election in decades without a mayoral incumbent on the ballot.
She brought her younger brother, Mitchell, into the voting booth with her. It’s Mitchell who tells me who Abbie chose first for Mayor –Kenyan McDuffie.
See the full, updating results at electionresults.dcboe.org
