D.C. residents go to the polls Tuesday to vote in the city’s Democratic primary elections, which will likely determine the winners of November general elections, including the mayoral race.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a two-term incumbent, faces a strong challenge from D.C. Council member Robert White (at-large), as well as competition from council member Trayon White (Ward 8) and activist James Butler. (Robert White and Trayon White are not related.)
Ravi Perry, a political science professor at Howard University, noted Ms. Bowser’s advantages as the incumbent, but he also pointed out that Robert White enjoys name recognition, has native ties to the city and offers a progressive alternative to Ms. Bowser’s more centrist policies.
“My suspicion is that Robert White is going to get very, very close, and certainly, polling shows he has a chance to win,” Mr. Perry said.
A telephone poll of 500 likely voters conducted June 7-9 by Lake Research Partners for Robert White’s campaign found Ms. Bowser with 41% support and Mr. White with 37%. The survey’s 4.4-point margin of error puts the race in a dead heat, according to the White campaign.
The poll results were the first released publicly since February, when a Washington Post survey found that 58% of city residents approve of Ms. Bower’s job performance, down from 67% in 2019.
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“This is a time in the city’s history where we should be making significant progress for the people and communities that have been left behind for decades, and we haven’t done that under Mayor Bowser,” Mr. White said in an interview with Jewish Insider.
Ms. Bowser’s campaign has been plagued by issues including education, affordable housing and crime.
On Sunday, D.C. police shut down a street festival after a shooting in which a 15-year-old boy was killed and three adults were wounded, including a police officer.
Overall, violent crime in the city rose 20% from last year, with 1,251 violent crime incidents reported by May last year, compared to 1,492 this year.
Homicides rose by 3%, from 71 to 73 and robberies rose 46%, with 586 reported as of May 19 last year compared to 853 incidents this year.
To mitigate the impact, Ms. Bowser has long proposed hiring at least 300 more police officers and offering incentives to retain hundreds more.
Mr. Perry said crime is Ms. Bowser’s biggest hindrance to victory, but her signature plan to hire more police is one that could turn away more progressive voters in favor of an alternative candidate.
“Violence has gone up under her watch and she hasn’t really had a real solution to it other than arguing for more police, and for a lot of people in the District, that’s the opposite answer,” Mr. Perry said.
Robert White has offered creating more affordable housing solutions to lessen the homeless population, investing in after-school programs, and funding more crime prevention programs to enhance public safety.
Trayon White said he would want to hire more mental health workers to deal with crisis situations, while Mr. Butler has echoed the mayor’s plan of hiring more police in his tough-on-crime campaign.
The winner of the Democratic primary typically goes on to win the general election, given that the District is a Democratic stronghold.
If Ms. Bowser wins, she would be the second mayor in the city’s history to serve more than two terms and the first woman to do so. The late Marion Barry served four terms throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In other Democratic primary elections:
– Attorney Matt Frumin and D.C. Council staffer Eric Goulet are vying in Ward 3 to replace council member Mary Cheh, who decided not to seek reelection.
– D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s longtime nonvoting representative in Congress, faces challenges from the Rev. Wendy Hamilton and former home caregiver Kelly Miket Williams.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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