Janeese Lewis George, the Ward 4 member of the D.C. Council, is running for mayor of D.C. in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election as the Democratic nominee.

Lewis George faces Rhonda Natalie Hamilton, running as an Independent, and Robert L. Gross of the Statehood Green Party. Lewis George announced her candidacy on Dec. 1, 2025, according to her campaign website.

Candidate information

  • Party: Democratic
  • Current office: D.C. Council, Ward 4 (2021–present), according to BallotReady
  • Hometown: Third-generation Washingtonian and Ward 4 native, according to her campaign
  • Education: Bachelor's degree in political science and sociology, St. John's University (2010); juris doctor, Howard University (2014), according to BallotReady
  • Family background: Daughter of a union postal worker, according to her campaign
  • Affiliations: Member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and the Washington Bar Association, according to her council office biography

Lewis George says she is the first self-identified democratic socialist to serve on the D.C. Council since 1998. She attended D.C. Public Schools, graduating from Cuno H. Rudolph Elementary School, Alice Deal Middle School and School Without Walls high school, according to her council biography.

Experience and public service

Before joining the council in 2021, Lewis George served as an assistant attorney general at the D.C. Office of the Attorney General from 2016 to 2019 and as assistant general counsel at the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education in 2019, according to BallotReady. She worked as an assistant district attorney at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office from 2014 to 2016 and as a City Year Los Angeles corps member from 2010 to 2011, according to BallotReady.

At Howard University School of Law, she served as editor of the Human Rights & Globalization Law Review and as a member of the Trial Advocacy Team, according to her council biography.

On the issues

The following positions are drawn from Lewis George's campaign website and BallotReady questionnaire responses. They represent the candidate's stated platform.

Housing: Lewis George says she would build publicly owned, mixed-income social housing and reinvest rents to lower costs. She says she would strengthen the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act and expand the District's first-time homebuyer program, according to her campaign platform.

She also calls for expanding rent control protections, according to her issues page.

Public safety: Lewis George says she would create Community Hubs in all eight wards to coordinate resources. She describes D.C. as having abundant resources but poor coordination across agencies, according to her campaign platform.

Transportation: Lewis George says she would designate car-free zones, add dedicated bus lanes and make buses free for D.C. residents enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. She says she would fully invest in the STEER Act to remove dangerous drivers from District streets, according to her campaign platform.

Education and childcare: Lewis George says families would spend no more than 7% of household income on childcare under her plan, with many paying less and some paying nothing, according to her childcare platform.

She says she would address truancy by unifying the system under one agency and expand after-school programming in all eight wards, according to her education platform.

Economy and jobs: Lewis George says she would establish a Federal Workforce Transition Center to reskill displaced federal employees. She says she would create a one-stop shop for business licensing and expand tax credits for small businesses facing rising rents, according to her campaign platform.

Endorsements

The race has drawn union backing. Lewis George has received endorsements from the following organizations, according to the sources listed:

  • American Federation of Government Employees, according to an AFGE announcement
  • AFL-CIO, according to BallotReady
  • People for the American Way's Next Up Victory Fund, according to BallotReady

Candidate responses were drawn from Lewis George's council office biography, campaign website and BallotReady questionnaire. The Capital City Post did not interview the candidate for this profile.