Washington, D.C., is on the precipice of political change in 2026, with much of the old guard stepping down, while newer faces and ideas come to the forefront in the district.
With third-term Mayor Muriel Bowser and 18-term Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) each retiring at the end of 2026, District of Columbia voters will have a power vacuum to fill as they entrust new leaders to the helm of the city. In 2026, Washington voters will elect a mayor, a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, members to the Council, and an attorney general on Election Day.
The 2026 mayoral race has kicked up in recent months following Bowser’s announcement in late November that she would not seek reelection. The Democratic mayor has served her role at the helm of Washington, D.C., since 2015, marking an era of more moderate, pragmatic Democratic leadership.
There are currently over half a dozen candidates who have declared or filed paperwork to run to replace Bowser, though the two most prominent names campaigning to succeed her are former Washington, D.C., Councilman at-Large Kenyan McDuffie and Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George, a socialist. The two left-wing candidates offer vastly different directions for the district’s future.
McDuffie is a more moderate, Bowser-style leader, while Lewis George represents more of a Zohran Mamdani-style hopeful, looking to galvanize younger, progressive voters. Each candidate is focusing on affordability issues but in different ways, e.g., McDuffie is promising things such as “growth with guardrails,” while Lewis George is promising “homes for all.”
Bowser has ebbed and flowed between countering the Trump administration in its first term to working with President Donald Trump on public safety in his second term. Though she stood as a local, stalwart foil to Trump by creating the Black Lives Matter Plaza following the death of George Floyd, Bowser allowed the project to be dismantled in 2025 as she struck a more appeasing tone with Trump this past year.
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The new mayor will inherit Bowser’s tricky situation of representing a blue city while having to work within the guardrails of a capital city limited by Congress, as the executive and legislative branches are under GOP leadership. This situation could slightly shift, however, if Democrats flip the House in the 2026 midterm elections.
On the June 16 primary Election Day, district voters will choose between the more moderate McDuffie or the more leftist Lewis George when deciding their post-Bowser era path forward.
In the race to replace Holmes Norton, many prominent candidates have thrown their hats in the ring, including Councilmember at-large Robert White, Ward 2 Councilwoman Brooke Pinto, former Advisory Neighborhood Commission Commissioner Deirdre Brown, Holmes Norton staffer Trent Holbrook, and former staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Vincent Morris.
There are several D.C. Council seats up for grabs as well, including McDuffie’s at-large seat and the Ward 1 seat vacated by retiring Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau. Council chairman Phil Mendelson, who has served on the council since 1999, is largely expected to win his reelection.
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb is also largely expected to win reelection, though he is facing a challenge from attorney J.P. Szymkowicz, according to the 51st.
The balance of power in Congress after the midterm elections is another factor that could influence how the 2026 elections could drastically shift the fate of Washington’s political future. A blue legislature is generally more friendly than a GOP legislature to the Democratic policies pushed by the district’s Democratic leaders.
Further, Washington’s demographics have shifted over the past several years, according to Axios D.C., which could have a significant impact on how the district votes in June and November. The city has shifted from 48.5% to 43.5% of its population being black residents. White and Latino residents now make up 47% of the district, according to the outlet.
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The makeup of each candidate field could change over the next several weeks, as the last day for candidates to file nominating petitions is March 18.
Primary Election Day in the predominantly blue city is on June 18, while the general election will be held on Nov. 3.