DC primary election results: Robert White wins in delegate race, Lewis George leads mayoral candidates – WTOP News

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Janeese Lewis George holds a firm lead over Kenyan McDuffie in the contest to secure the Democratic nomination in D.C.’s mayoral race, and Robert White won the Democratic nomination in the race for D.C. delegate to Congress, according to results released by the District’s Board of Elections.

Nearly three hours after polls closed in D.C.’s primary elections Tuesday night, the board released results from over 100,000 ballots, and Lewis George had secured more than 52% of the vote to McDuffie’s nearly 37%. No other candidate had more than 3%.

Lewis George and McDuffie, who served together on the D.C. Council, emerged as the two favorites in the mayor’s race after Muriel Bowser announced she would not seek a fourth term.

Lewis George laid out more ambitious plans to address affordability issues, including expanding access to universal childcare and developing 72,000 units of housing, a plan McDuffie called unrealistic and just rhetoric.

“This moment is for those who refuse to surrender their hope in a government that works for all of us,” Lewis George said triumphantly Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, McDuffie pitched plans he promised to deliver and focused on the issue of public safety, pushing for curfew measures Lewis George is against and saying he’d increase funding and staffing for D.C.’s police department.

In the race to become D.C.’s next delegate to Congress, White cruised to a commanding victory Tuesday night over Brooke Pinto for the Democratic nomination, with around 63% of the vote to Pinto’s 21.5%. No other candidate had more than 8%. White said Pinto called him shortly before 11 p.m. to concede.

In the contest for attorney general, incumbent Brian Schwalb handily defeated his lone Democratic challenger, J.P. Szymkowicz, for the party nomination. The Associated Press called the race after the first batch of results was released Tuesday night.

The winners of Democratic primaries in D.C. are all but assured to win in November, since nearly 75% of registered voters in the District are Democrats, according to the Independent Voter Project.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the District’s primary elections, but long lines to cast a last-minute vote and the debut of ranked choice voting in D.C. delayed the release of results, with initial numbers not coming in until after 10:30 p.m.

New mayor for first time in 12 years

Lewis George had the edge over McDuffie in the mayor’s race Tuesday night. The Associated Press estimated 66% of the total votes had been counted, with ballots dropped into drop boxes Tuesday and those mailed closer to election day yet to be factored in.

The AP has not yet called the race, but Lewis George delivered remarks Tuesday night resembling a victory speech.

“We are making history by showing this country that the dream of America is still alive in its capital city, that hope can overcome despair, that a people divided can be united again, and as we’ve heard echo down our streets 1,000 times, that a people united will never be defeated,” Lewis George said.

Lewis George is in the middle of her second term as Ward 4’s council member, and previously served in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General as assistant attorney general in the juvenile section of the public safety division.

McDuffie is a more experienced D.C. council member, serving for more than 13 years before resigning last year to pursue his mayoral run. Previously, he also worked as a prosecutor and later served in former President Barack Obama’s Justice Department.

As D.C. waited hours for results to be released Tuesday night, McDuffie spoke to his supporters.

“As the votes are being counted tonight, we respect this process. We respect this process, and we are going to see it through all the way to the end. We’re going to make sure that people understand that every single vote is going to be counted,” he said.

The successor to DC’s ‘Warrior on the Hill’

It’s been even longer since D.C. had a new delegate to Congress — 36 years, to be exact.

With the exit of Eleanor Holmes Norton, White and Pinto were the front-runners in a field of five Democratic candidates. White, though, got out to an insurmountable lead Tuesday night, with tens of thousands more votes than Pinto with the AP estimating more than 60% of the vote had already been counted. Pinto conceded the race shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday, White said, and The Associated Press called the race for White shortly after.

He delivered a fiery speech Tuesday night promising to deliver for the D.C. residents who supported him.

“I will not yield the fight for families drowning in the cost of housing, groceries, childcare and healthcare. I will not yield in the fight for workers who did everything right, but lie awake at night wondering how it’s all going to work. I will not yield for the people who have spent their lives waiting for a turn that never seems to come, because our turn will never come unless we demand it,” White said.

White has served on the D.C. Council for nine years and has previously served as legislative counsel to Norton and as director of community outreach for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General.

Pinto is also in the middle of her second term on the D.C. Council, serving as chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety. Before that, she worked in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General. 

DC’s attorney general fends off challenge

Schwalb is wrapping up his first term as D.C. attorney general. Before assuming the office in 2023, Schwalb served as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, then entered private practice and ascended to Venable’s firmwide vice chairman and partner-in-charge of Venable’s D.C. office.

He easily defeated his challenger, J.P. Szymkowicz. The AP called the race Tuesday night after Schwalb captured more than 90% of the votes that had been counted.

Szymkowicz, of Szymkowicz & Szymkowicz law firm in D.C., has served as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Foxhall for seven years and made campaign promises to crack down on crime, predatory landlords and go after those with unpaid traffic violations.

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