District of Columbia Councilman and mayoral hopeful Kenyan McDuffie has overtaken a fundraising record set weeks ago by his primary competitor, Ward 4 Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George.
The surge in contributors for McDuffie, who announced his campaign on Wednesday, was fueled in part by a significant influx of support from donors outside the district.
The McDuffie campaign announced Thursday night that it had raised $181,000 in small donor donations within the first 24 hours of its launch.
The campaign explicitly characterized the loot as beating the first-day performance of Lewis George, who entered the race in December 2025.
Last month, Lewis George’s socialist campaign made waves by announcing it had raised the required $40,000 from at least 1,000 district residents within just a few hours of launching.
The rapid success allowed her to qualify for the district’s Fair Election public funding program in record time, ultimately reporting an eye-popping $700,000 in total early support.
The two left-wing candidates are bringing distinct visions to the 2026 mayoral race. McDuffie is running on a platform of “pragmatic governance,” focusing on economic development, public safety, and protecting the district’s autonomy from federal overreach with “a touch of populism.” Lewis George is positioning herself as a progressive hopeful, centering her campaign on “people first” values with a focus on social housing, universal after-school programs, and resisting the “mass deportation machine.”
While McDuffie leads in total dollars raised during the initial launch phase, the data show a complex battle for different segments of the electorate. He raised approximately $139,000 from district residents, roughly on par with the local totals Lewis George reported during her launch.
The deciding factor in McDuffie’s record claim was nearly $42,000 contributed by donors living outside the city, a figure that significantly outpaced Lewis George’s out-of-state contributions.
Despite McDuffie’s higher dollar amount, Lewis George maintains a massive lead in individual donor support. She drew 1,870 local donors at her launch, more than double that of McDuffie.
Both candidates are utilizing the District’s Fair Elections Program, which provides a 5-to-1 matching rate for donations from district residents up to $200.
By Thursday afternoon, McDuffie’s campaign confirmed it had already surpassed the 1,000 local donor threshold required to qualify for public matching funds. Lewis George did the same in under five hours.
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As of Friday morning, the Fair Elections candidate data show Lewis George has already secured nearly $980,000 in total public payouts.
The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 16.