This week world media has been obsessed with speculating on the content of the U.S./Iran war MOU and venting about President Trump’s birthday UFC Fight in the “Claw” on the White House lawn. But in other D.C. news, the months of campaigning by candidates for various municipal offices culminated in the Democratic Party Primary elections on 16 June. For probably the last six months the city’s lamp posts, walls and front lawns have been plastered with the names and pictures of dozens of people that many people had never heard of.
As D.C. is not a state, the issue of governance has been a hot potato for years. The Home Rule Act of 1973 gave D.C. residents the right to elect a mayor and local council. That council can pass local laws, and manage D.C. taxes, but the D.C. overall budget and all legislation are subject to congressional review. D.C. is not represented in Congress, but residents can elect a person called the D.C. Delegate, who despite having no vote, can advocate for D.C. residents and introduce legislation. Also, as the President has authority to deploy the National Guard in our federal district, they have been spotted all over D.C. for the last ten months and will be with us at least until the end of the year, ostensibly to fight crime. In reality, their role is to serve as a potential visual deterrent, and they have very limited powers to detain suspected criminals if a crime is perceived to be imminent.
My husband John and I have been living in Washington D.C. on and off since 2008, and permanently since 2020. Our children and their families are also in D.C. Last summer John and I were the last members of the family to become U.S. citizens. Thus we are now eligible to vote, in local and Presidential elections and we discovered what that meant on the day of naturalization. A vote recruiter explained that as residents of D.C., if we wished to vote in a Primary election, we could only vote for the party that we had registered with. That signaled to us that as D.C. is 92% Democrat, there was little point in registering to join any other party, if we wanted our vote to be meaningful.
As new citizens we suddenly found ourselves involved in the election process and frenzy. In the last three months it became clear that the mayoral contest had narrowed itself down to two candidates: Janeese Lewis George, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, and the more centrist Democrat, Kenyan McDuffie. Despite the fact that Israel should not be playing any part in D.C. local politics, Ms George, who had publicly declared that Israel had committed genocide and agreed to divest from Israel, stated that if she could, she would renege on her vote in 2022 to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred. She also pledged to boycott Israel and avoid meeting with “Zionists” or attend events “focused on obfuscating the realities of occupation or promoting Zionism or apartheid” or participating in “political junkets to Israel.”
After a predictable Jewish outcry, she tried to undo the damage by telling the Jewish community that she would “not be a mayor who includes or excludes you based on your opinions or feelings on matters here and across the world. I will always protect your freedom, safety and sense of belonging.” In her view, her “support for Palestinian human rights” and her “commitment against antisemitism” were not in conflict.
Many, but not enough, supported Mr McDuffie. We planted a poster for him in front of our house. Within 12 hours it had disappeared. We planted another one. It also disappeared. We put the third one inside our window. 4 days before the election President Trump stated he would take over D.C. if Ms Lewis got elected, a statement that must have given her candidacy a huge boost.
On election day the ballot paper contained fourteen categories: apart from the mayor and the delegate, there were numerous positions to fill on the council. There were 71 people to choose from, of which many were part of a group who believe that global human rights issues are relevant to local governance. I wonder how many took the time to research that large pool.
Results have started to come in. The Democratic Socialist Ms Lewis is almost certainly going to be our new mayor. The main election will take place in November and the result is inevitable. There is a Republican candidate, but in previous elections, only around 6% of the D.C. voters voted Republican. Some of the press have started to speculate whether any Democrats will change their party allegiance. Even if they did, it would take a tsunami of Republican votes to beat Ms Lewis. So, will D.C. become like New York? Will President Trump take over D.C? In reality, the President cannot “take over” but Congress, with its overseeing powers, particularly in tax and fiscal matters can certainly make the new mayor’s life difficult. We can only wait and see…
