With the primary vote count underway, Lewis George has a double-digit lead, while Kenyan McDuffe, a centrist Democrat, is at 34%
After Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York, Washington D.C. could also have a socialist mayor, who would be destined for a highly complex cohabitation with Donald Trump. With over 60% of the Democratic primary votes counted, Janeese Lewis George, a current city council member who defines herself as a 'democratic socialist', **is clearly in the lead, with over 50% of the votes**, while Kenyan McDuffe, a centrist Democrat like outgoing mayor Muriel Bowser, who has led Washington for 12 years, is at 34%.
"What seemed like a distant dream a short time ago is already history unfolding before us today - Lewis George told her supporters as the first results of her success came in - this moment is for those of us who refuse to give up hope for a government that works for all of us." In reality, it may still take some time before the final results are available, given that voting took place with a new system and, if no candidate has a majority at the end of the first-choice count, second choices will be counted.Why Janeese Lewis George is in the leadIn any case, Lewis George has such a clear lead over McDuffie that she can consider **the possibility of becoming Washington's first socialist mayor in November** within reach. A possibility that, obviously, Trump does not like at all: "maybe we'll take back Washington and run it federally, we won't accept this," the president said in response to a question about Lewis George's possible victory, referring to the fact that the capital has had a mayor elected by citizens only since 1974, after the approval of the law that granted the city, until then governed by federal commissions and from 1967 by a 'mayor' appointed by the president, a form of self-government. At the root of Lewis George's success, there may be **a strong protest vote against the layoffs of tens of thousands of federal employees**, desired by Trump, which caused cascading problems for the local economy. But it also fits into a broader movement, which was, for example, decisive for Mamdani's victory, against the excessive cost of living in large cities, with skyrocketing rents, utility bills, and food expenses.The choice of younger votersA Fox News poll last March recorded that 38% of Americans believe it is good for the United States to move from deregulated capitalism towards what is called socialism in the US, which in reality corresponds to social democratic programs and policies. **A percentage that rises to 53% among younger voters under 30** who, as Cato Institute researcher Emily Ekins explains to Abcnew, "want **affordable healthcare, affordable rents, a more equitable economy where the rich don't get special favors from the government**.""I believe we have a chance, but we need to mobilize new voters, young voters, and we need to talk about truly changing the system because it doesn't work for ordinary people," says Francesca Hong, a former restaurateur running as a democratic socialist for governor in Wisconsin, explaining that it is people facing economic hardship and unable to pay their bills who support candidates like her.The Democratic Socialists of America gained prominence in the party in 2018 when several of its members, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, were elected to Congress. But the youth electorate was certainly mobilized by the two, failed, presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders, the elderly senator considered the father of the left-wing Democrats who ran for the White House in 2016 and 2020.Mamdani's exploit in New York last year then opened a new season of success for democratic socialists in the primaries ahead of the November vote, when not only in Washington but also in Los Angeles for the mayoral seat, a democratic socialist, Nithaya Raman, the city councilor who will challenge incumbent mayor Karen Bass, will be in the running, after defeating Spencer Pratt, the former Trumpian reality TV star who had deployed significant forces to secure the candidacy. If both Lewis George and Raman ultimately win, then three of the major American cities, New York, Washington, and Los Angeles, will have 'socialist' mayors.
