D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George appears to have a clear path to winning the mayor’s race after her top Democratic primary opponent conceded Thursday. Her expected victory continues a trend in both major parties in which anti-establishment candidates are sweeping into office.
Former council member Kenyan McDuffie, the more moderate choice in the race, conceded after determining he could not overcome the double-digit lead Ms. Lewis George held with three-quarters of the votes counted. She held 53% of the ballots counted, versus 37% for Mr. McDuffie.
Ms. Lewis George, a Ward 4 Democrat and self-described socialist, is all but guaranteed to succeed three-term Mayor Muriel Bowser after the general election in November, a largely predictable contest in the heavily Democratic city.
Ms. Bowser chose not to seek reelection and did not endorse anyone in the open primary, but she made it clear that she “always supported” Mr. McDuffie as her pick for mayor.
D.C. voters bucked her opinion at the ballot box and supported Ms. Lewis George.
“Let it now be laid to rest. It is the people of D.C. who elect the mayor,” Ms. Lewis George said late Tuesday at her election night rally at the Howard Theatre. “Tonight, D.C. made its demand. What seemed like a distant dream not too long ago is already history unfolding before our eyes. This moment is for those who refuse to surrender their hope in a government that works for all of us.”
Ms. Lewis George joins other prominent democratic socialists who have gone against the grain of the Democratic Party to win their elections.
The most famous example was the November 2025 mayoral race in New York City, where voters overwhelmingly backed Zohran Mamdani over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Mr. Mamdani, an obscure member of the New York State Assembly when he launched his campaign, mounted a swift insurgent run to end the Cuomo family political dynasty.
Mr. Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo, was a popular three-term governor in the Empire State in the 1980s and 1990s.
Yet Andrew Cuomo became radioactive in 2021 when a sexual harassment scandal cut short his third term as governor.
Mr. Mamdani may have been an outsider because of his ties to the Democratic Socialists of America, but the prospect of putting Mr. Cuomo back in office helped the young candidate land several big-name endorsements, including from Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Even more of a dark horse candidate during her winning race in November was Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.
Ms. Wilson, also a democratic socialist, edged out incumbent Bruce Harrell by roughly 3,000 votes, even with significant fundraising disadvantages and a lack of support from Washington state’s most powerful politicians.
What Ms. Wilson and Mr. Mamdani did share was a strong ground game that energized the left-wing bases in their cities.
For Mr. Mamdani, it was bold promises of freezing rents and eliminating bus fares, packaged in snazzy video ads.
For Ms. Wilson, it was nearly 15 years of grassroots activism in Seattle that gave her a network of unions and nonprofits to boost her campaign.
“Wealthy interests poured nearly $2 million into a political action committee to prevent my election, because for some people in our city, the status quo is working exactly as intended,” Ms. Wilson said during her acceptance speech in November. “They might have the money, but we had the people, and the results of this election proved that the working people of our city are tired.”
Republicans have not been exempt from intraparty upheaval during their primaries.
President Trump, whose Make America Great Again movement dominates the Republican political agenda, recently weathered a string of high-profile primary defeats for his endorsed candidates.”
In Georgia’s gubernatorial primary runoff, Rick Jackson defeated Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Mr. Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive, contributed significantly to the roughly $100 million that fueled his winning campaign. The heavy spending helped him leapfrog Mr. Jones in the runoff after Mr. Jackson placed second in the May 19 primary.
The president’s endorsement in the Iowa Republican gubernatorial primary earlier this month similarly failed to carry Rep. Randy Feenstra across the finish line.
Mr. Feenstra lost by fewer than 2,000 votes to businessman and farmer Zach Lahn in the June 2 election, despite the congressman’s legislative record in Iowa and Washington.
“Nobody thought this could be done. We were outspent, opposed by the establishment, told to wait our turn,” Mr. Lahn said during his victory speech that night. “Tonight, the people of Iowa had something to say about that — that we’re not going to wait anymore.”
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