The D.C. Board of Elections dismissed a $16,000 fine against Democratic mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George's campaign on Wednesday, Oct. 7, finding no evidence of improper coordination with labor unions.
The ruling, first reported by the Washington Post, closes a months-long elections probe less than four weeks before the Nov. 3 general election. Lewis George, a Ward 4 councilmember, won the Democratic primary on June 16 and is running to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance (OCF) originally issued the fine on June 12, four days before that primary. The OCF cited four separate $4,000 penalties against Lewis George, campaign treasurer Julia Anne Howell and the Janeese for DC Fair Elections Committee. The charges covered expenditures above spending limits, contributions above limits, failure to comply with Fair Elections requirements and expenditures for a prohibited purpose, according to Fox 5 DC.
At the center of the probe was whether campaign staffers working on union payrolls amounted to illegal coordination with outside groups. The OCF alleged Lewis George's campaign shared five staffers with Unite Here Local 25, a labor union that also backed the campaign through an independent expenditure committee called Safe & Affordable DC. The OCF assessed a separate $4,000 penalty against that committee.
The Board of Elections determined the OCF lacked the evidence to support its findings, according to the Lewis George campaign.
The campaign had appealed the fine immediately after it was issued. In a June 2026 statement, the campaign said the OCF order contained factual errors and violated procedural requirements governing its investigations. The campaign also argued it had maintained written agreements and a firewall separating campaign activity from union activity. The OCF's own 40-page report, released June 12, initially contained multiple typos and inconsistencies before a corrected version was uploaded.
Jos Williams, chair of Safe & Affordable DC, said in a June 13 statement that the order "… does not find any specific facts constituting coordination with the campaign under DC law, and instead baselessly 'presumes' coordination where none exists."
The Lewis George campaign said in an Oct. 7 statement that the Board of Elections' decision confirmed its position that the original order was politically motivated. The campaign also called for consistent enforcement of election rules.
The OCF has not publicly responded to the Board of Elections' ruling.
The general election is Nov. 3.
