D.C. Democrats Face Questions Over Teen Takeovers As Mayoral Race Heats Up

In the final major debate of the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, D.C., the candidates spent as much time accusing each other of corruption and Republican sympathies as they did defending their own visions for the city — a revealing display in a race where the Democratic nominee is all but certain to win in November.

The hour-long forum, hosted by Fox 5 D.C., quickly became a combative showdown between Kenyan McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George, who repeatedly traded barbs over crime, campaign donations, and ties to President Donald Trump. Businessman Gary Goodweather was on stage as well, but drew less attention, often struggling to break into the sharper exchanges between the two council veterans.

The clash over public safety was among the night’s most pointed moments. After moderators raised a recent violent brawl involving teenagers at a Chipotle in Navy Yard, Lewis George defended her opposition to the city’s youth curfew by arguing that enforcement could put minors in danger because of the federal law-enforcement presence in the district.

“Using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous,” Lewis George said. “It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, mass ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law on our young people.”

McDuffie seized on the opening to portray her as soft on crime.

“What they need to do is treat these teen takeovers like the public safety emergency that they are,” he said. “Doing nothing is not an option.” He went further, directly blaming Lewis George for delaying action on the curfew. “The council had an opportunity to act just a few weeks ago, before the curfew expired, but they didn’t act, because Janeese Lewis George shut it down.” 

Lewis George responded by accusing McDuffie of opportunism and trying to appeal to conservatives in a city that remains overwhelmingly Democratic.

“Now that he is taking big Trump donor dollars and Republican dollars, he’s now using cheap political points from Republicans to score in this moment,” she said. “It’s disingenuous and disheartening.”

That charge became a recurring theme throughout the night, with Lewis George repeatedly invoking what she described as McDuffie’s acceptance of donations from “Trump donor dollars,” while McDuffie countered by accusing her of facing campaign finance scrutiny.

“There’s only one person on this stage who’s actively under investigation for violations of the campaign finance laws, and it’s Ms. Janice Lewis George,” McDuffie said.

The debate also underscored just how far Left the race has moved in a city where Republicans are effectively noncompetitive. All three candidates said they would end cooperation between D.C. police and ICE. Asked whether they would direct the Metropolitan Police Department to work with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on enforcing the youth curfew, both Lewis George and Goodweather answered flatly: “No.” McDuffie likewise pledged to cut off cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, saying he would “sign an executive order to rescind ICE” from the city.

Goodweather had perhaps the most unusual proposal of the evening, suggesting that Washington eventually construct “a fourth-generation air-cooled nuclear reactor on federal land in D.C.” as part of his energy plan, a remark that stood out in a debate otherwise dominated by housing, public safety, and mutual accusations.

In a city where the Democratic primary will almost certainly decide the next mayor, Tuesday’s debate showed candidates not racing to the center, but competing to prove who is more liberal — and who can paint their Democratic rival as secretly aligned with the Right. The Washington, D.C., primary is on June 16.