D.C. Mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George (D) launched her transition Wednesday after a decisive election night victory, tapping a slate of leaders to aid in headhunting for top talent to fill out her administration.
“Today I officially begin the work of building a people-first government,” she told reporters. “In the next two months I will build a government that delivers on the promises of my campaign, including a D.C. we can all afford and a government that is accountable to its people.”
Lewis George, a democratic socialist, is expected to move city government to the left with appointees who have the chops to deliver on ambitious campaign pledges despite challenging economic and financial headwinds. Her vision has revolved around tackling affordability, ending local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities and enhancing basic city services — the kind of “sewer socialism” that has made New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) popular.
She did not reveal specific hires. But she has launched a job application portal to field candidates for dozens of positions that her transition team will vet. And she said she is working with the Police Executive Research Forum, which studies law enforcement policy, to begin a local and nationwide search for a police chief. The D.C. police department, currently under interim chief Jeffery Carroll, has had four leaders in five years.
“We have asked them to work as quickly as possible, but we are not interested in just, you know, having someone there on day one. We want the right person,” Lewis George said. “We want someone who’s quality, who the residents of the District have asked to rebuild the trust within the police department and to rebuild trust with the community, and so I’m confident that we can we can find that person.”
Lewis George’s police chief will likely be one of her most closely watched hires; public safety is one area where she contrasted most sharply with outgoing Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), opposing policies such as a police-enforced youth curfew or harsher sentencing for theft. Lewis George said she would also be engaging the D.C. Police Union — which has clashed with her as a council member — and the department in the search.
She said she had yet to make any decisions about whether to keep certain agency directors or cabinet members within Bowser’s administration. She said a main priority in the transition would be ensuring “a continuity of service delivery” in “mission-critical” areas like public safety and education.
Lewis George thanked Bowser for her years of public service to the District and said the mayor has been helpful in aiding the transition so far, including helping her find a transition office near Union Station so she could hit the ground running after the election.
Bowser congratulated Lewis George on social media Wednesday morning after a night of smashing Democratic success in taking control of Congress. Bowser has described that shift as key to getting the city “to the other side” after two years of assaults on the city’s home rule by a GOP trifecta in Congress and the White House.
“This is what the other side looks like. We promised to get here with our Home Rule intact and electing our next leaders. Congratulations to Mayor-Elect Janeese Lewis George. I’ll run through the tape and support a seamless transition,” Bowser wrote on X.
The substantial Democratic majority in Congress is expected to be a boon for Lewis George, leaving her freer to pursue liberal policy ideas without the ever-present threat of congressional intervention in D.C. legislation that a GOP Congress typically poses. She said she was looking forward to working closely with members on both sides of the aisle.
“I think it’s clear that this is a referendum on where people are in our country,” Lewis George said of the midterm results. “People are struggling with paying bills, housing, utilities, child care — all of these things matter. And so I think we saw that clearly play out.”
Lewis George will be entering office in a city hamstrung by a massive budget deficit.
Lewis George has floated a business activity tax to raise revenue, closing a loophole in D.C.’s business tax structure that she described Wednesday as “unfair.” But she said she will also do a “forensic analysis” of the city’s budget to identify inefficiencies.
She said Wednesday that her transition team will get started on identifying potential cost savings now so she can submit a balanced budget to the D.C. Council within her first 90 days. Will Singer, a former staffer in Lewis George’s council office who now works for the D.C. auditor, is her “budget lead.”
“We are not naive about where we are in the District. We know that we’ve lost thousands of District jobs. We know that our economy has shifted, especially with the federal job loss. And so we are looking at really making really critical decisions, especially as it relates to budget,” Lewis George said. “That’s why that forensic analysis and that desk audit that we are working and willing to do is so important.
On Lewis George’s transition team, the co-chairs largely reflect her key campaign promises.
Two have significant expertise in child care policy and advocacy, as Lewis George aims to ultimately fund a universal child care subsidy: Beatriz “BB” Otero, a former deputy mayor of health and human services in the Vincent C. Gray administration and founder of CentroNía, a bilingual early childhood and family support organization; and Kimberly Perry, executive director of DC Action and founder of D.C. Hunger Solutions who has played key roles in advocating to protect D.C.’s program boosting the wages of early child care educators.
Another co-chair, Greg Akerman, president of the Baltimore/DC-Metro Building Trades Council, aligns with Lewis George’s union-heavy backing during the campaign as she centered workers’ rights. He will be “key to my good jobs agenda,” Lewis George said, “and we will make sure we have people in government who prioritize connecting our residents with good paying jobs, fighting wage theft and educating our kids about the trades earlier in school.”
Lewis George tapped Jennifer Levy, a former top deputy under New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) who oversaw hundreds of employees and litigated major cases against Trump and the National Rifle Association, as her transition director.
Two other co-chairs on her transition team, Gautam Raghavan and former Obama administration appointee Aaron Jenkins, bring a mixture of nonprofit and public sector experience. Raghavan previously directed the White House personnel office in the Biden administration, leading the selection of thousands of presidential appointees.
Dan Tangherlini, an alum of former mayor Adrian Fenty’s team and a former top official in the General Services Administration, is chairing a committee focused on essential government services. No major real estate developers are on the team, though Lewis George did appoint Crispus Gordon, a vice president of government relations at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company owned by sports team owner Ted Leonsis.
A few Democratic Socialists of America members are sprinkled throughout the transition team leadership, and Lewis George’s spokeswoman, Amanda Gomez, who is one of them, said others will likely participate in the various transition committees.
Paul Schwartzman contributed to this report.
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