Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George opens up lead in Washington, D.C., mayoral primary

2026 ElectionDemocratic socialist Janeese Lewis George opens up lead in Washington, D.C., mayoral primaryLewis George, a member of the city council, has a significant edge over her nearest rival, Kenyan McDuffie, with about two-thirds of the vote counted and the race too early to call.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00 Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie.Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 17, 2026, 12:25 AM EDTBy Alexandra MarquezCity councilmember Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist, leads the pack in the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., as the city continues to tally later-arriving ballots.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.See live results hereWith approximately two-thirds of the expected vote counted, Lewis George has 53% of the first-place votes, with former city councilmember Kenyan McDuffie — who previously held a city-wide, at-large council seat — in second place at 37%. The remainder of the vote is scattered among five other Democratic hopefuls.With more votes to count, it’s not clear if the race will be going to a ranked choice tabulation, which is necessary if no candidate gets a majority of first-place votes. In that scenario, support from lower-performing candidates is reallocated to those voters’ next choices until one candidate receives a majority of the vote.In either case, Lewis George has built up a commanding position against her main rival, McDuffie, as she seeks to become the latest democratic socialist to take up a big-city mayorship in the U.S. — with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani the most prominent example.In Washington, the candidates have sparred for months as they pitched the city on how they plan to lower crime and make life in the nation’s capital more affordable.They also spent significant time discussing how they would handle the capital’s relationship with President Donald Trump’s administration and Republicans in...