Undercurrent Events

DC 2026 Democratic Primary — A Voter Guide

Primary: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 — TOMORROW. | Ranked-Choice Voting in effect Polls open 7 AM–8 PM. Early voting through today. Same-day registration available at all vote centers. Because of RCV, winners in tight races will not be known election night.

Updated June 15, 2026 with the final week’s developments. What’s changed since May 27 →

Resources

Companion documents:

Endorsement pages worth consulting:

Notably absent: The Washington Post editorial board did not endorse in any DC race this cycle — part of the post-Bezos pullback from political endorsements that began in 2024. DCist / WAMU also sat out with voter guides but no picks. The absence is itself a story: no editorial board provided cover for either mayoral frontrunner in a tight race.

Where to vote: dcboe.org

How to read this guide

DC’s 2026 primary is the first under ranked-choice voting (RCV) — you can rank up to five candidates in any race with more than two on the ballot. This guide does three things:

  1. Profiles the top candidates in every contested race on your ballot
  2. Maps them on the 2–3 dimensions that actually separate them this cycle (not generic ideological labels — the specific axes the 2026 field has chosen to fight on)
  3. Walks you through a quiz that asks which issues matter most to you, then routes you toward a ranked ballot — not just a single pick

Three structural facts to internalize first:

What’s changed since May 27

Four developments in the final three weeks actually moved the race:

  1. Washington Post / Schar School poll (released June 5, fielded May 27–June 1, likely voters): Lewis George 36, McDuffie 25, Goodweather 3, Orange 4, 25% undecided. Wider lead for Lewis George than the earlier City Cast poll (39–34), but fielded before the OCF fine. Geographic breakdown shows Lewis George +37 in Ward 1, +16 in Ward 6, effectively tied east of the Anacostia with 40%+ undecided — the big remaining swing universe.

  2. OCF fines Lewis George’s campaign $16K (final order June 12 — four days before the primary). Four separate $4K penalties: above-limit expenditures, above-limit contributions, Fair Elections noncompliance, and prohibited-purpose expenditures. Separate $4K against the union-funded Safe & Affordable DC IE committee. The findings cite inadequate firewall between the campaign, unions (UNITE HERE Local 25, SEIU 32BJ), and the PAC; improper personal-credit-card reimbursements; and union staff-leasing arrangements that created coordination concerns. Lewis George calls the order “riddled with factual errors” and “politically motivated”; she will appeal to the Board of Elections. The McDuffie campaign’s closing message has been built around the fine — “she broke serious rules governing her own publicly-funded campaign.”

  3. Trump threatens federal takeover if Lewis George wins (June 11). At a White House event: “I wouldn’t like it, and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis.” Lewis George called it “an attack on democracy and local self-government.” Effect is genuinely ambiguous — Lewis George allies use it to mobilize anti-Trump turnout; McDuffie surrogates use it to frame her as a “federal risk.” CNN ran a national piece tying the race to Trump on June 15.

  4. Bowser soft-endorses McDuffie (June 9, at Axios AM Live event): “I support Kenyan McDuffie.” Explicitly declined a formal endorsement — but the signal is clear and the timing was coordinated.

Three smaller updates worth flagging:

One absence worth flagging: Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the major national progressive figures stayed out of DC entirely. Sanders endorsed in Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota; AOC sat out the cycle. Lewis George ran without a national progressive imprimatur.

The Mayoral Primary

Bowser is not running. First open mayoral seat since 2014. Frontrunners are sitting Ward 4 CM Janeese Lewis George and former at-large CM Kenyan McDuffie (who resigned to run). Gary Goodweather, a real estate developer, is the only third candidate with serious money. Vincent Orange (former CM) and Rini Sampath (cybersecurity consultant) round out the credible field.

Polling

City Cast / TrueDot
(May 12–17, n=735)		 WaPo / Schar School
(May 27–June 1, likely voters)
Janeese Lewis George 39% 36%
Kenyan McDuffie 34% 25%
Gary Goodweather 7% 3%
Vincent Orange 5% 4%
Undecided 24% 25%

City Cast also asked about second-choice preferences: McDuffie led 27–15 in second choices among voters whose first choice wasn’t a frontrunner — meaning Goodweather, Orange, and Sampath voters were more likely to put McDuffie second than Lewis George.

WaPo / Schar geographic crosstabs:

Both polls were fielded before the OCF fine. The fine landed June 12; no public polling captures its effect.

Dimensions that actually separate the mayoral field

Three axes do almost all the work. (Federal-Trump posture, often expected to be the dividing line, isn’t — both frontrunners have converged on confrontation, ending MPD-ICE cooperation, and defending Home Rule. Where they differ is economics, not resistance. The Trump takeover threat reframes this somewhat: it forces McDuffie to argue Lewis George is too confrontational to be safely entrusted with Home Rule.)

Axis 1 — Affordability theory: Redistribute vs. Build-and-attract

Axis 2 — Public safety: Prevent-and-invest vs. Police-and-enforce

Axis 3 — Coalition geography (descriptive, not ideological)

Likely outcome

Lewis George is favored — bigger lead in the only late public poll, deeper labor and organizational ground game, the Trump-threat reaction probably mobilizes her base more than it costs her. McDuffie’s path requires either the OCF fine to genuinely move undecided Wards 7 & 8 voters in the last 48 hours, or for Goodweather’s #2 transfers to flow heavily to him (likely), or for Bowser’s soft endorsement to consolidate the Black moderate vote. Toss-up trending Lewis George; not a lock.

Watch the east-of-the-Anacostia 40%+ undecided pool — that’s the biggest single block in play and it’s where the OCF fine + Bowser soft-endorsement messaging is concentrated.

Full candidate dossiers on Lewis George, McDuffie, Goodweather, Orange, and Sampath: see the companion page.

Council Chair

Phil Mendelson (incumbent, 73) is effectively unopposed. Jack Evans (the ex-Ward 2 CM who resigned in disgrace over ethics violations) filed but did not consolidate any institutional support. Mendelson holds AFL-CIO, 1199SEIU, IBEW 26, LiUNA. A minor open OCF investigation into use of council resources to challenge Evans’s nominating petitions isn’t race-changing. Rank Mendelson #1 unless you want to register a protest vote — in which case leave the race blank rather than help Evans.

At-Large Council — Bonds Seat (Democratic Primary)

Open seat. Nine Democrats on the ballot; RCV in play. Four-way top tier plus the wildcard. No public polling exists for this race, so endorsements and fundraising are the only signal.

The candidates:

New: the Raymond / Jackson / Nelson ranking pact

In the final week, Lisa Raymond, Greg Jackson, and Candace Tiana Nelson have asked voters to rank all three of them together. The first formal coordinated ranking in this race — and a textbook RCV play: in a 9-way field with no public polling, locking in mutual second-choice transfers is the strongest available coordination move. Whether it works depends on whether their voters actually follow through, which is the open empirical question of the cycle.

Dimensions

Axis 1 — Coalition base

Axis 2 — Signature theory of the seat

Axis 3 — Insurgent vs. continuity

Likely outcome

Owolewa is the consensus favorite — fundraising lead, labor support, statehood brand. Jackson is the credible second on first preferences. The Raymond/Jackson/Nelson pact could push one of them into the final round on transferred ballots if their coordinated ask sticks. Forester needs labor’s #1s that aren’t going to Owolewa — without the AFL-CIO endorsement, that’s harder than it should be. Chavous’s path runs through Bonds’s base coming home — Jenkins’s presence splits it.

Full dossiers: Jackson, Owolewa, Forester, Chavous, Raymond.

At-Large Council — McDuffie Seat (Special Election, Nonpartisan)

On the same ballot. All registered DC voters can participate regardless of party. This is a separate race from the Bonds primary above. No candidate appears in both.

Doni Crawford — McDuffie’s former senior aide; appointed to the seat in January 2026. Former DC Fiscal Policy Institute analyst. Endorsed by Council Chair Phil Mendelson, Greater Capital Realtors, Restaurant Association, Opportunity DC. GLAA +6.5. Cross-endorsement with Patterson.

Elissa Silverman — Held the at-large seat 2015–2023; lost to McDuffie in 2022. Reputation as hard-nosed oversight-focused independent. Endorsed by Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, UNITE HERE 25, AFGE 2725, Greater Greater Washington, Sierra Club DC, DC NOW.

Jacque Patterson — Current President of the DC State Board of Education (At-Large); former KIPP DC charter leader; cross-endorses Crawford.

What’s at stake

Silverman vs. Crawford is a left-on-left rematch by proxy, with the AFL-CIO behind Silverman and the Mendelson/business establishment behind Crawford. Patterson is essentially a “stop Silverman” partner via cross-endorsement. If you’re an independent or Republican, this is the only at-large race you can vote in.

Attorney General

Brian Schwalb (incumbent D). Sued the Trump administration twice in 2025 — over the DEA Administrator serving as DC’s “emergency police commissioner,” and over the 2,300-troop National Guard deployment as illegal military occupation. $3.95M Amazon Flex tip-theft settlement; ongoing Amazon lawsuit over secret exclusion of Wards 7–8 ZIPs from Prime fast-delivery; $19M+ in wage-theft recoveries. Trump’s DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro has publicly attacked Schwalb’s juvenile prosecution rate. Raised ~$1.3M.

J.P. Szymkowicz (challenger). Ward 3 ANC; small-firm lawyer. Running essentially from the right — argues Schwalb is insufficiently aggressive on juvenile crime, echoing Pirro’s framing. Raised ~$5,000.

Schwalb wins comfortably. Rank him #1.

US House Delegate (Open Seat — Norton Withdrew)

Eleanor Holmes Norton withdrew January 25, 2026. Five-way race with three credible candidates.

Polling

The only public poll: City Cast (May) — Robert White 38, Brooke Pinto 21 (n=487). Prediction markets have White as a heavy favorite (78–85¢). The doxxing scandal that broke in April was the inflection point; Pinto has not recovered. White has run a deliberate strategic-pivot campaign — no major counter-attack, just consolidation of the CBC/CPC/labor lane.

Profiles

Brooke Pinto (Ward 2 CM, 33). JD-trained; former Racine AAG; chairs Judiciary and Public Safety. Frontrunner on money — $843K+ raised, $821K cash on hand, but the doxxing scandal damaged her coalition. ~$170K from donors who also funded Trump (including $100K Trump 47 donor Alan Breed). The April 2026 doxxing scandal — a 67-page oppo dossier on Robert White containing personal/family info — collapsed her #2 ceiling.

Robert White (At-Large CM, 44). Three-term At-Large; native Washingtonian; the only Black candidate in the field; Norton’s former legislative counsel 2008–2013. Endorsed by Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Working Families Party, Free DC, GGWash, Washington Teachers’ Union, DC Nurses Association, AFSCME DC Council 20. Platform: pursue an Appropriations seat (rare for a non-voting delegate), federal land transfers, Puerto Rico–style federal business-tax model. In Fair Elections.

Kinney Zalesne (59). Former DOJ counsel; former Microsoft exec; former DNC deputy national finance chair. First run for elected office. Platform: Capitol Caucus with neighboring states, post-primary “statehood summit.” Endorsed by former AG Eric Holder. $594K total; $466K cash on hand; $85K self-loan.

Dimensions

Axis 1 — Theory of the delegate office

Axis 2 — Donor base & character signal

Axis 3 — Norton’s legacy

Likely outcome

Robert White is the clear favorite — large polling lead, broad institutional endorsement consolidation, prediction markets at 78–85¢. Pinto’s path requires either a Goodweather-style late surge from money advantage or a fundamental misread by the only public poll. Zalesne is the dark-horse for the runner-up slot, with a real shot at being everyone’s #2.

Ward 1 Council (Open — Nadeau Retiring)

Five-way race; RCV. Only poll: GGWash / PPP, March 27–29 (n=232). Raj 42 / Brown 25 / Trindade Deramo 16 / Reyes-Yanes 9 / Lynch 8.

Aparna Raj (32). DSA member (three terms on Metro DC DSA Steering); communications manager at Local Progress; tenant organizer. First Ward 1 candidate to max Fair Elections matching funds — $330K+, double the next candidate. Endorsed by Metro DC DSA, Working Families Party, Sierra Club, UFCW 400, WTU, UNITE HERE 25/23, ATU 689, multiple AFGE locals (11 unions).

Rashida Brown (47). Social worker; ANC for 10 years; would be Ward 1’s first Black woman councilmember. Endorsed by Brianne Nadeau (the incumbent’s blessing). Cross-endorsement alliance with Trindade Deramo — they rank each other #2.

Briefly: Terry Lynch (Mt. Pleasant 40+ years, “use it or lose it” vacant-property platform); Jackie Reyes-Yanes (Salvadoran-born, would be Ward 1’s first Latina CM, former Bowser community-affairs director); Miguel Trindade Deramo (ANC chair, led the 2024 RCV initiative, cross-endorses Brown).

Dimensions

Axis 1 — Housing approach

Axis 2 — Ideological tradition

Axis 3 — Representation claim

Likely outcome

Raj is favored on first preferences — 17 points ahead in the only poll, the strongest single-union coalition, and the Local Progress / DSA national-progressive ground operation. Brown’s path depends on the Trindade Deramo cross-endorsement working under RCV — combined first preferences in the poll (25 + 16 = 41) are below Raj alone (42), but later-round transfers could close that gap. This is the cleanest test case on the ballot for RCV’s transfer math.

Ward 6 Council

Charles Allen (incumbent). Three-term; chairs Transportation and Environment. Architect of DC’s 2020-era police reform and the Revised Criminal Code Act (overturned by Congress in 2023). Survived a 2024 recall attempt by failing the signature threshold. Now leans into refinement-not-repudiation: voted for 2024 Secure DC omnibus; points to a 29% drop in violent crime in 2025. Endorsed Lewis George for mayor. In Fair Elections.

Michael Murphy (challenger). Consumer-protection / whistleblower attorney. Platform: align MPD crime data with federal reporting, rebuild police staffing, expand surveillance, increase sentences. Running on the post-recall analysis — Council “failed on transparency, oversight, and public safety.”

Gloria Ann Nauden (challenger). Black; 30+ year Ward 6 resident; CEO of Philanthropy DMV. Platform: “Listen. Collaborate. Deliver.” Increased police staffing paired with youth programming and community policing — less confrontational than Murphy.

Dimensions

Axis 1 — Theory of the 2020–2023 crime spike

Axis 2 — Tone

Likely outcome

Allen probably wins — Capitol Hill / NoMa / H Street urbanist base intact, recall failed, crime numbers move his way. Murphy and Nauden split the anti-Allen vote without clean #2 transfers between them.

Ward 3 and Ward 5

Ward 3 — Matthew Frumin is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Rank him #1 and move on.

Ward 5 — Zachary Parker (incumbent) faces Bernita Carmichael and Bridget French. Neither challenger has built a serious fundraising or endorsement base. Parker points to a 35% Ward 5 violent-crime drop 2023–2024 and another 15% in 2025. Endorsed by Opportunity DC and GGWash. Heavily favored.

US Shadow Senator

Paul Strauss (incumbent, 29 years in seat) vs. Markus Batchelor (former State Board of Education member from Ward 8; National Political Director at People For the American Way). Batchelor is the change candidate. Endorsed by Greater Greater Washington (Strauss didn’t submit a questionnaire), Washington Teachers’ Union, People For the American Way Victory Fund.

US Shadow Representative

Franklin Garcia (former Shadow Rep 2015–2021) is running essentially unopposed. Rank him #1.

The Quiz

This is a paper-friendly quiz you can print, walk through, or share. It works in three steps:

  1. Step 1 — Issue prioritization. You assign weights to the issues that matter to you. These weights multiply your match score with each candidate.
  2. Step 2 — Position questions. You answer 9 substantive questions; each is mapped to one of the dimensions above.
  3. Step 3 — Race-by-race scoring and ranking. You produce a top-3 ranked ballot per race that maps directly to RCV.

A short coda explains how to rank strategically under RCV (spoiler: sincere ranking is usually correct).

Step 1 — Issue prioritization

Distribute 20 points across these issues. You can put 0 on issues you don’t care about; you can put all 20 on one issue if you want. Be honest, not balanced.

Issue Your weight (0–20)
A. Housing affordability and rent ___
B. Public safety and policing ___
C. Schools and education ___
D. Taxes and the DC budget ___
E. Defending DC from Trump-era federal interference ___
F. Statehood and Home Rule autonomy ___
G. Homelessness and encampments ___
H. The Commanders / RFK stadium deal ___
I. Representation (race, gender, immigrant background, neighborhood) ___
TOTAL 20

Hold onto these weights — you’ll multiply them into your match scores in Step 3.

Step 2 — Position questions

Answer each as “Yes / No / Don’t care.” If a question is irrelevant to your priorities, skip it.

Q1 (Housing). Should DC tax law firms, lobbyists, and consultants more — even if some leave — to fund tenant protections and social housing?

Q2 (Housing). Should DC dramatically streamline permitting and zoning to maximize new construction, accepting that this benefits developers?

Q3 (Safety). Should DC hire ~1,000 more police officers?

Q4 (Safety). Should DC keep funding violence interruption and Cure-the-Streets-style programs even at the expense of more enforcement?

Q5 (Federal). When Trump’s administration tries to interfere with DC, should DC’s response be confrontation (lawsuits, refusal to cooperate) over negotiation?

Q6 (Education). Should DC keep the IMPACT teacher evaluation system and mayoral control of DCPS?

Q7 (Federal/Delegate). Should the Delegate’s job be primarily (a) defending against riders inside the appropriations process, (b) building a national coalition and visibility, or (c) pre-empting attacks with legal/legislative tools?

Q8 (At-large). Which At-Large candidate’s signature theory of the seat appeals most: (a) statehood and federal fight, (b) labor and working families, (c) gun-violence-prevention and Home Rule defense, (d) Bonds-style constituent-services continuity?

Q9 (Representation / coalition). Is it important to you that DC’s next mayor reflect (a) the city’s Black majority and lifelong-resident base, (b) the city’s growing renter / progressive / transplant majority, or (c) neither — pick on policy regardless?

Step 3 — Race-by-race scoring and ranking

For each race, multiply your raw candidate score by the relevant issue weights from Step 1, then rank the top three. Here is the issue-weight mapping:

(If the math feels heavy, here’s the cheat code: whichever issue has your highest weight, look up that issue in the relevant axis chart above and rank candidates accordingly. The multiplication is a precision tool; the qualitative pattern is usually obvious.)

Step 4 — Strategic ranking under RCV

DC’s ranked-choice voting works like this: in each multi-candidate race, you rank up to 5 candidates. If your #1 is eliminated, your vote transfers to your #2, then #3, and so on. The winner is whoever clears 50% after all transfers.

Two rules of thumb cover almost every case:

  1. Rank your sincere favorite #1. Under instant-runoff (DC’s RCV variant), there is no “wasted vote.” If your favorite is eliminated, your vote flows on; if your favorite wins, great. Voting strategically by ranking your second-favorite first almost never helps you. Just rank your real preferences.

  2. Don’t rank candidates you actively dislike. If you’d rather see no one in office than a particular candidate, leave them off your ballot entirely — even at #5. Ranking them at all signals tolerance you don’t have, and in close races it can matter.

Race-specific notes:

How to vote

~30,000 mail ballots had been returned by June 10, plus 4,440+ in-person early votes. DCBOE projected another 30K–40K mail ballots arriving on Election Day. Final results will take days, possibly more than a week, in any tight race — that’s the RCV reality.

Methods and caveats

Built for friends and neighbors deciding how to vote. Forward freely. Companion candidate dossiers →