Here's who is running in DC's mayoral primary on June 16

WASHINGTON - D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced that she will not be running for reelection after over a decade in office, and the candidates for the mayoral primary election in June are pouring in. 

Nine candidates have filed petitions to appear on the Democratic primary election ballot for June 16, while others have announced running as an independent or a write-in candidate. 

The two front-runners of the race are Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie who have a history in D.C. politics and have already gone head-to-head about their political past and visions during a Free D.C. forum. 

Here's who is appearing on the June 16 Democratic primary ballot: 

SKIP TO: Kenyan McDuffie | Janeese Lewis George | Gary Goodweather | Vincent Orange | Hope Solomon | Rini Sampath | Ernest Johnson | Kathy Henderson

Here's who is running as an independent or a write-in:

SKIP TO: Talib Karim Muhammad | Yaida Ford | Rhonda Hamilton | Muhsin Umar

Green party primary: 

SKIP TO: Robert L. Gross

Kenyan McDuffie

Former D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, 50, announced his mayoral run for D.C. after resigning from the council earlier this year. 

McDuffie told FOX 5 DC's Tom Fitzgerald that he wants to focus on making D.C. affordable and safer – building on the falling crime rates. He aims to spur economic growth, increase police transparency and fight what he says are the Trump administration's threats to D.C. home rule. 

The backstory:

McDuffie is a fourth generation Washingtonian who grew up in Northeast D.C., where he still resides. He worked as a mail carrier to pay his way through Howard University, attended law school and became a prosecutor, including in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. 

McDuffie was first elected to the D.C. council for Ward 5 in a 2012 special election where he served for 10 years, before he spent his remaining years as an at-large D.C. Councilmember. 

Janeese Lewis George

Janeese Lewis George, McDuffie's main opponent in this race, is a current Councilmember representing Ward 4 and describes herself as a democratic socialist. 

A critic of what she calls Mayor Bowser's relationship with the Trump administration, Lewis George tells FOX 5 DC's Tom Fitzgerald that she instead intends to fight for D.C. in the courts for home rule. 

With a campaign that focuses mainly on affordability, education, childcare and policing, she floats the idea of change at the top of D.C. police if she is elected. While expressing support for the current D.C. police chief, she tells FOX 5 DC that her vision is someone who addresses retention, recruitment, morale and police enforcement. 

Endorsements: 

The Working Families Party endorsed Lewis George for the June Democratic primary in a statement, along with the Washington Teacher's Union.

The Working Families Party recently organized behind Zohran Mamdani in his victory in the Mayoral election in New York City. 

Gary Goodweather 

Gary Goodweather is a real estate manager and former U.S. Army captain who is running as a Democrat for this election. Goodweather's campaign names literacy a top priority, and other issues include trust and investment in law enforcement, investment in clean energy, addressing homelessness through policies and indoor vertical farming for food security. 

Vincent Orange 

Vincent Orange, a Democrat, is a former D.C. Councilmember where he represented Ward 5 for eight years and became an At-Large Councilmember for two terms. He served as the president of the DC Chamber of Commerce from 2016 to 2020. 

His campaign, "The Orange Plan," makes public safety its foundation and looks to strengthen education, workforce opportunity and economic growth. Orange's education plan has milestones for certain grades on subjects like math and English and guarantees four paths for graduating high school seniors. His other proposals include curfews for minors, stimulating economic activity to grow revenue without raising taxes and expanding homeownership opportunities. 

Orange resigned from D.C. Council in 2016 after criticism over conflicts of interest with his role as president of the DC Chamber of Commerce. The DC Board of Ethics and Government Accountability ruled later that year that he did not break ethics laws. 

Talib Karim Muhammad 

Talib Karim Muhammad has a vision for D.C. statehood, safety, affordability and a remodeled education. He comes from a background as a teacher, engineer, attorney and reporter.

His campaign has a two-year plan for statehood that includes funding D.C. law schools and law firms to fight in courts, a national campaign for a constitutional amendment and lobbying. He envisions changing the Ward system to 10 "Charter Cities," creating a "Public Safety Army" – a force of residents committed to community safety, transitioning D.C. schools into all-girls and all-boys academies, universal rent control and more. 

Muhammad started his campaign as a Democrat, but he has posted on his Instagram that he will now be running as an independent.

According to the post, Muhammad believes his message was so threatening to the status quo that he was denied the chance to get on the stage to become a breakout candidate. 

Yaida Ford

Yaida Ford is a civil rights attorney, urban farmer and an advocate who is campaigning for safe neighborhoods, affordable housing, strong schools and a reliable government. Ford's values highlight D.C. statehood, economic empowerment amidst navigating artificial intelligence, introducing trained resource officers and more. 

While Ford's name will not be appearing on the official ballot, she has announced that she will be running as a write-in candidate.

"This is a people-powered campaign. No party machine. No institutional backing. Just us," Ford posted on her Facebook campaign. 

Hope Solomon 

Hope Solomon was one of the workers laid off by the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump, and now she is running for mayor, according to Axios. Solomon resides in Dupont and focuses her campaign on affordability, changing the public schools' lottery system and a more efficient government for D.C. residents and businesses. 

Robert L. Gross

Robert L. Gross is a self-proclaimed "moderate socialist-capitalist." The key component of his campaign is to modernize city government through responsible artificial intelligence integration for budgeting, service delivery, real-time performance oversight and increasing efficiency without sacrificing transparency. 

Gross is running in the Green Party primary for Mayor of D.C. on June 16.

Rini Sampath

Rini Sampath, a cybersecurity consultant, was driven to start her campaign in the wake of the District's recent snow woes. Her campaign is focused on the need to "fix the basics." 

"You deserve streets that are safe and well-maintained, a city that prepares for emergencies so you don't miss work or school, housing costs that don't force you out of your home, support for small businesses, and neighborhoods designed for families, pedestrians, and cyclists," reads her campaign website. 

Rhonda Hamilton

Rhonda Hamilton is running as an Independent. She's a D.C. native and small business owner, and founder of M.I. Mother’s Keeper, a mental health advocacy non-profit. Her top focuses include housing stability, healthcare and economic disparities and small businesses. 

Muhsin "Boe" Umar

Muhsin Umar, also known as "Boe" according to his campaign site, "is a lifelong community builder." He's running as an independent. His campaign site mentions reducing neighborhood violence, building food access systems and training residents in employable trades. 

Ernest Johnson

Ernest Johnson is a D.C. native and CEO of nonprofit Friends of Frank Reeves Center, which has provided backpacks, school supplies and free haircuts to local elementary schools. He's running as a Democrat. His campaign site focuses on programs around education, growing the city's revenue and public safety. 

Kathy Henderson

Kathy Henderson served as an ANC commissioner for Ward 5. According to her campaign website, she studied biology at Howard University and is a preservationist and former C100 trustee. She also serves as a member of the Pepco Citizen Advisory Group (CAG), which was created to help clean up the Anacostia River.  

The backstory:

Last year, President Donald Trump's federal takeover of D.C. put the spotlight on Mayor Bowser as she navigated cooperation with the president, whom much of the city opposed. She faced criticism for expressing "appreciation" for the federal surge, and protests and social media posts called for her to push back against the Trump administration's threats to Home Rule. 

ElectionWashington, D.C.D.C. Politics