D.C. Mayor Bowser criticizes mayoral candidate over teen curfew bill
Muriel Bowser criticized five D.C. City Council members, including Janice Lewis George, for refusing to support extending the city’s youth curfew.
- Trump suggested that if Janice Louise George wins, she could use federal powers to “take back Washington.”
- Both mayoral candidates, Louis George and Kenyan McDuffie, condemned Trump’s comments.
- Polls show Louis George leading the race, and the city will be the first to use ranked voting.
President Donald Trump did not hesitate when asked on June 16 if he would agree with electing Janice Louise George, a self-described democratic socialist, as mayor of Washington, D.C.
Trump quickly shot back, telling reporters in the Oval Office last week: “I don’t like that. And we’re probably going to take back Washington and run it on a federal basis. We won’t put up with it.”
Washington, D.C. voters appear ready to put the 38-year-old City Council member and his left-leaning agenda, which emphasizes universal child care, public housing and stronger labor unions, in charge of the nation’s capital. Louis George is leading in the polls, and her grassroots campaign has been compared by supporters and critics alike to last year’s elections of other democratic socialists, including New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.
This may explain why President Trump is leveraging the only wedge available to the White House: the 1973 Home Rule Act, which gives the federal government some authority over the governance of Washington, D.C.
“The threats we’ve heard from President Trump are not empty if he works with Congress to further interfere in how D.C., which is not a state, is governed,” Amy Bruno, executive director of DC Vote, a D.C. state rights group, told USA TODAY.
“The residents of Washington, D.C., should have the right to choose their own elected officials without interference from the president or Congress.”
Louis George’s candidacy for mayor comes after Trump made dramatic — and fact-checkers say misleading — claims in Washington, D.C., that the country was plagued by a “crime epidemic” until he took unprecedented action.
The Trump administration also deployed thousands of National Guard troops to the city’s streets, declared a state of crime emergency in the area in August 2025, and authorized a controversial 30-day federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Beyond policy, the president’s influence on the city can be seen in physical makeovers, such as the $400 million White House Ballroom, in which the historic East Tower was demolished, and the 250-foot “Arc de Triomphe” planned across the Potomac River from the National Mall.
Progressive activists argue that voters in heavily Democratic cities are not intimidated by the president’s comments. Instead, they say Trump’s threats could make D.C. voters more defiant than cautious, which could increase the city council’s chances of being elected.
“Candidates like Janice Louis George and candidates like Zoran Mamdani are winning because they’re the only ones who are willing to come forward and fight,” said Joseph Guivarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a group founded by Bernie Sanders and supporting Louis George in the race.
“Mamdani is definitely leading the way, but it’s not just in New York,” he added. “D.C. voters are hungry for exactly this kind of change, and they know it right away when they see it.”
‘Assault on democracy’: Both candidates denounce President Trump’s involvement
Louis George is competing with multiple candidates, but the likely alternative is Kenya McDuffie, a former City Council member and attorney, to replace Mayor Muriel Bowser, whose term ends after being at odds with the Trump administration for much of 2025.
The clash between Louis George and McDuffie is similar to Democratic primaries in deep blue states like Illinois, where the dividing line between candidates is often about how to deal with intrusions from the Trump administration.
Bowser said the president’s takeover of police is “disturbing and unprecedented,” but acknowledged that the president has the authority to do so under the Home Rule Act, a 1973 law that granted limited autonomy to Washington, D.C.
In response to these actions, the mayor has adopted what he calls a more “strategic” approach in response to blatant attempts by Trump and his congressional Republican allies to take full control.
The Bowser administration has also worked with the White House on certain matters, such as the removal of homeless camps and the Joint Law Enforcement Task Force, which sometimes involves U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“I got along very well with her. I liked her,” President Trump told reporters as they chatted aboard Air Force One. “We’ve worked together. D.C. is now a safe community. It’s a great community.”
Louis George rejected that centrist approach, including a pledge to end any coordination with federal immigration authorities. That more aggressive stance is also exemplified in the smaller battles between Louis George and the mayor over housing and public safety policies.
Most recently, he opposed the emergency youth curfew that Bowser called for as a way to break up the large gatherings known as “Teen Takeovers” that are occurring across the country. The councilman said “going along” with the Trump administration in advance would not work and could escalate the conflict between the city and the White House.
“Threatening the rules of self-government because you don’t like how people vote is an attack on democracy itself,” he said in a June 11 Facebook video. “The people of Washington, D.C., are electing a mayor, and they want someone who will stand up to Donald Trump.”
McDuffie also released a statement saying that Trump is not welcome to participate in the campaign.
“The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher, but D.C., not Donald Trump, will decide who’s the next mayor,” he said in a June 11 post on the X show. “As Mayor, I will fight tooth and nail to protect our home rule, protect against MAGA federal overreach, keep our city safe, and rebuild the economy destroyed by Trump’s policies, including the tens of thousands of residents laid off by his unconscionable actions,” Elon Musk said. ”
Mr. Trump has also focused on other local government races, and previously ran against democratic socialist candidates.
Leading up to Mamdani’s victory in the Big Apple last November, the president regularly railed against the policies of the first Muslim mayor, calling him a “Jew-hater” and threatening to arrest him, and suggesting that federal budget cuts would hurt New York City.
But after months of acrimony, the two sides have a surprisingly friendly public relationship despite maintaining deep ideological differences.
Carl Nielsen, president of the DMV New Liberals, a centrist group that supports Mr. McDuffie, said the issue of federal overreach is “definitely a major factor” in this year’s mayoral race because, unlike Maryland and Virginia, the district is in a much more volatile situation.
“Whoever the district voters choose to be the next mayor will have to navigate the very difficult situation of working with an adversary and fighting back for the city,” Nielsen told USA TODAY.
“Mayor Bowser has done a pretty good job in this impossible task, especially de-escalating the MPD takeover last summer,” he added. “We hope the next mayor can maintain this balance without fear of White House retaliation or public dissatisfaction with this necessary coexistence.”
Opinion polls show Louis George as the frontrunner in the No. 1 election.
The race for mayor of Washington, D.C., is usually decided by Democratic primaries, but there is little chance of a Republican reversal in the fall.
Like Mamdani, polls show that Louis George’s progressive policies have made her a front-runner in the race despite her limited track record in Congress. A May 20 Citycast DC poll showed the D.C. City Council member leading McDuffie by about 5 points.
A Washington Post-Schar School poll released on June 5 showed the councilman’s lead growing to as much as 11 points.
But observers say new issues have emerged that will make this election a little more difficult to predict than in the past.
In 2024, local voters approved a ballot measure allowing ranked-choice voting. That is, if no candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, the worst-performing candidate is eliminated and the votes are redistributed to the voter’s next ranked candidate. The Wapo Shah School poll showed Mr Louis George won about 36 per cent of the vote, with 25 per cent backing Mr McDuffie, but 39 per cent of voters remained. to be decided.
Louise-George’s image as an anti-establishment candidate focused on cost of living issues may be the reason for her improved numbers among younger people and new residents.
Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, said local elections are often where political movements are first built, and Mamdani has provided a blueprint for progressive candidates. He pointed out that while Mandani persuaded the state to tax ultra-luxury second homes, New York City just saw its lowest homicide rate in the city’s history during the first three months of 2026.
“When workers understand that people-power politics is actually possible, it changes what we think is possible everywhere,” Geevarghese said. “We are at the beginning, not the end, of that change.”
Among Gen Z voters, for example, the Citycast DC poll shows Louis George with a 24-point lead and a 19-point lead among Millennials. However, the gap narrowed when Gen
Lewis George held a 15-point lead on the girls side, while McDuffie held a four-point lead on the boys side. Both candidates are black, but McDuffie has fared significantly better among black voters, who make up 42% of the D.C. electorate.
According to the Citycast DC poll, Mr. McDuffie leads by 9 points among black voters, while Mr. Louis George leads by 6 points among white voters and 55% among other races.
Ranked voting could help McDuffie, as research shows voters who support other candidates in the field are twice as likely to choose him second to Louis George.
Contributor: Mike Stanson
