Universal child care was among the major policy goals that Janeese Lewis George (D), the Ward 4 D.C. Council member, pledged to voters if she were elected mayor of D.C. — a key component of a campaign platform centered on affordability issues ranging from housing to jobs programs that she rolled out at a packed launch party Wednesday night.
In a city where child care expenses are among the highest in the nation — often costing as much as a family’s rent or mortgage — the idea could resonate strongly with working parents. It’s also exactly the kind of ambitious proposal that Zohran Mamdani — now New York’s mayor — found success with as he sold his vision as a democratic socialist to voters in last fall’s election, driven by a focus on affordability.
The proposal from Lewis George, also a democratic socialist, would undoubtedly require massive investment at a time when city revenue is limited. She said she would plan to gradually expand eligibility for existing child care subsidies, which pay for all or a portion of families’ child care costs depending on income, until they applied to all D.C. families.
She seemed to anticipate skepticism from critics. “Remember, people said [universal] pre-K 3 and 4 were impossible, until it was done. Then D.C. became the leader, and cities across the country have followed our example. So let’s lead again,” she said.
“Let’s expand the D.C. child care subsidy amount and the number of people who qualify for it until it’s universal and every family has access to child care they can afford,” said Lewis George, who said she can relate now that she and her husband have a baby in day care.
Her launch party kicked off the same day that her chief opponent in the Democratic primary, former council member Kenyan R. McDuffie, formally announced his own bid for mayor, squaring up a competitive contest for the open seat as the city faces an uncertain future rife with economic challenges and threats to its limited autonomy. McDuffie, who served most recently as the council’s business committee chairman, is seen as more moderate than Lewis George, who has a strong following among the city’s leftward flank but will be challenged in the campaign to draw in more centrist Democrats.
She sought to do so Wednesday night with a focus on pocketbook issues.
Lewis George took the stage at D.C.’s historic Howard Theatre in Shaw before an exultant crowd of hundreds who frequently broke out into chants of “JLG!” In a 25-minute stump speech, Lewis George broadly outlined the policies forming the pillars of her campaign — mainly in the areas of housing, jobs, education and public safety — and pledged a new direction for the city.
“It’s time to put people first,” she said. “Families across our city, from Deanwood to Dupont, from the margins to the middle class, are being squeezed by an affordability crisis. Housing, groceries, child care. We’re all feeling it. And residents are looking at their government and asking a very reasonable question: Why isn’t D.C. working better for all of us?”
Lewis George sought to draw strong contrasts with the administration of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who is not seeking reelection.
She drew the most lively response from the crowd when she pledged to sever any coordination between D.C. police and federal immigration authorities and to “stand up to Trump or anyone else who brings harm to our residents.” Bowser has taken a more muted approach to the president, a strategy that she has said is intended to protect D.C.’s home rule but that has divided D.C. residents, some of whom want more aggressive pushback.
“Enough is enough. We must end the cooperation between our police officers and ICE,” Lewis George said, adding that she recently witnessed immigration agents take a delivery driver into custody while local police were on the scene. “We are under attack, and we need a mayor that has a record of standing up and fighting back — not shrinking in the face of injustice.”
Lewis George began her platform rollout by pledging more affordable housing across income levels and more types of housing, namely family-size units, which are harder to find — and to afford — in D.C. In a dig at Bowser, she said the current administration had spent over $1.4 billion on affordable housing over the past decade — an achievement the mayor frequently touts — yet argued that more-affordable units are in higher demand than ever.
She said part of that vision would include reviving her push for social housing. That model involves publicly owned buildings with mixed-income households, where the government could use market-rate rents paid by wealthier tenants to subsidize the rents for lower-income households. Lewis George introduced a social housing proposal on the D.C. Council in 2022 that did not move forward.
“We cannot rely on the markets alone. Government must be an active part of the solution in making rent more affordable,” she said.
She said that while she would work with developers, she would not do “$1 land deals,” appearing to draw a contrast with Bowser’s image as being cozy with developers on major projects. And she said that although D.C. has done a “great job” catering to big business, she would seek to do more for small businesses burdened by regulations and rising rents.
On education, she said she would seek to tackle enduring problems such as the racial achievement gap and truancy, while also beefing up resources including special education, school-based mental health services and school staffing levels. She said she would seek to boost technical and vocational education and expand the popular Marion Barry Summer Youth Program to include year-round, full-time work opportunities that can carve out career paths.
The Washington Teachers’ Union endorsed Lewis George on Wednesday — building on Lewis George’s support from labor after she secured backing from five other unions last month.
“She does not have to be trained or schooled on what’s important to working-class people in our city. She is one of us,” said Jaime Contreras, executive vice president of SEIU 32BJ, who along with council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1) was among the supporters who introduced Lewis George onstage Wednesday night.
“She stood with us strong when others were willing to cave to the billionaires as they were bargaining the RFK Stadium,” he said, referring to Lewis George’s role in brokering a much broader project labor agreement before the final vote on a deal for a new Commanders stadium at the RFK Stadium site.
On public safety, Lewis George, a former prosecutor, pledged to resolve problems with D.C.’s 911 call center, which has repeatedly had life-threatening technology outages or dispatch errors. And she promised a “comprehensive public safety strategy” that would blend prevention, intervention and enforcement — the type of plan lawmakers and criminal justice researchers have long been clamoring for in D.C. under the Bowser administration.
Lewis George offered limited detail of what her plan would entail. But she said it would include being more strategic with police resources, such as empowering crisis responders to handle mental health emergencies to free up police.
She said a key prevention component would be the creation of “community hubs” in all eight wards that would offer resources such as job programs and mental health services. The Bowser administration has created similar types of community hubs.
In closing out her speech, Lewis George anticipated that critics would tell her to “aim lower. To move slower and expect less. But on this month of MLK, history tells us it does not reward caution in the face of injustice.”
A go-go band began setting up as Lewis George disappeared into the throngs of supporters — no doubt the product of nearly $1 million Lewis George has at her disposal, thanks in large part to the District’s public campaign finance matching system.
Outside, a D.C. police cruiser rolled down T Street followed by a caravan of unmarked black vehicles with federal plates, including from the Department of Homeland Security.
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