D.C. progressives want their own Zohran Mamdani vs. Mayor Bowser
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's shock win in the New York City mayoral primary has locals buzzing: Could it happen in D.C.?
Why it matters: I declared D.C.'s progressive era over earlier this year, but Mamdani's get-it-done brand of politics and hip campaign messaging is opening a new conversation on the left.
The big picture: As Mayor Muriel Bowser considers a fourth-term bid for 2026, lefties are studying Mamdani's playbook.
"The real question is: Does DC have the kind of charismatic, inspiring, fearless progressive leader that is willing to take on Mayor Bowser full throttle and run the kind of modern campaign Mamdani did?" wondered Scott Goldstein, a D.C. activist, in an X post.
What I'm hearing: The most talked-about name in the last 24 hours has been Janeese Lewis George, the council member who represents uptown neighborhoods like Brightwood and the Georgia Avenue corridor.
A democratic socialist, she beat a Bowser acolyte in 2020 for the Ward 4 seat.
Whether she wants the job is another question, but she could make a play for a Mamdani-inspired run.
At-large Council member Robert White has said he's " interested" in a Bowser rematch.
White skews left — he won his seat with progressive backing and sounds skeptical about taxpayer dollars for RFK Stadium.
But he's also recently voted the other way, like on Initiative 82.
Beyond them, the field gets way more speculative.
What about former Council member Elissa Silverman, whose 2022 loss left a progressive power vacuum on the council? "I don't have plans to do that," she told me, and ditto when I asked if she would happen to run for D.C. Council.
A wildcard: A candidate no one's talking about right now. See: A national political figure or a lesser-known politico like Erin Palmer, an advisory neighborhood commissioner who got more votes than expected in her loss to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson in 2022.
Asked about Bowser's future, the mayor's former campaign chairman, Bill Lightfoot, told me: "The mayor is focused on building the RFK site, reducing violence, improving our schools and passing a balanced budget."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
28 minutes ago
- New York Post
‘60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview at center of Trump lawsuit runs afoul of Cronkite-era CBS guidelines
The infamous '60 Minutes' interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that sparked President Donald Trump's $20 billion 'election interference' lawsuit conflicted with Walter Cronkite-era CBS News guidelines. Cronkite, who was the face of 'CBS Evening News' from 1962 to 1981, was the premier anchorman of America's golden age of network news. In 1976, at the height of Cronkite's reign as 'the most trusted man in America,' CBS News president Richard Salant penned a 76-page document outlining CBS News standards. Advertisement Page 58 is focused on editing and suggests the '60 Minutes' interview at the center of Trump's lawsuit against CBS News would have been frowned upon during the Cronkite era. 'The objective of the editing process is to produce a clear and succinct statement which reflects fairly, honestly and without distortion what was seen and heard by our reporters, cameras and microphones,' Salant wrote in the 1976 document, which has come to the attention of the Trump legal team. Trump's lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with '60 Minutes' correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't 'listening' to the Biden administration. Harris was criticized for the 'word salad' answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on 'Face the Nation.' 3 60 Minutes election special, Bill Whitaker asks Vice President Kamala Harris how she'll fund her economic plan and how she'd get it through Congress. 60 Minutes / CBS Advertisement However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, she gave a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of editing her answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day. The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris' comments came from the same lengthy response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the 'Face the Nation' preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special. 3 Trump's lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with '60 Minutes' correspondent Bill Whitaker. 60 Minutes / CBS CBS News, which has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the broadcast and its reporting, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital when asked if the Cronkite-era standards have changed. Advertisement 'If more than one excerpt from a speech or statement is included in a documentary broadcast, the order of their inclusion in the broadcast will be the same as the order of their inclusion in the speech or statement, unless the broadcast specifically indicates otherwise,' Salant wrote in the 1976 CBS News Standards guide. When Cronkite died in 2009 at age 92, his Associated Press obituary said the famed anchor 'valued accuracy, objectivity and understated compassion' and 'always aimed to be fair and professional in his judgments' regardless of personal views on a topic. 3 Photograph of Walter Cronkite in the year 1950, doing the 6 o'clock news at WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C., taken from the book 'A Reporter's Life'. 12.18.96 Two polls pronounced Cronkite the 'most trusted man in America': a 1972 'trust index' survey in which he finished No. 1, about 15 points higher than leading politicians, and a 1974 survey in which people chose him as the most trusted television newscaster, according to the AP. Advertisement Salant, who was running CBS News when '60 Minutes' was launched, was lauded by The New York Times when he died in 1993. Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! 'He was credited with raising professional standards and expanding news programming at CBS,' the Times wrote. CBS News, along with parent company Paramount, are currently in mediation with hopes of settling with Trump. The mediator recently proposed the network end the president's $20 billion lawsuit with a $20 million settlement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last month, Trump rejected Paramount's $15 million settlement offer as he sought at least a $25 million payout as well as an apology. According to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount 'isn't prepared' to give one.
The Hill
38 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate's ‘big, beautiful bill' faces serious headwinds in the House
The Senate's version of the 'big, beautiful bill' is facing serious headwinds in the House with at least six House Republicans telling The Hill they are currently a 'no' on the framework, a daunting sign for GOP leadership as the Senate races towards a vote. Those six House Republicans, some of whom requested anonymity, are enough opposition to tank the package, as GOP leaders grapple with a razor-thin majority. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who was one of two GOP lawmakers to oppose the House version of the bill last month, is also likely to oppose the Senate's edition, deepening the pocket of resistance in the lower chamber. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes and still clear the legislation, assuming full attendance and united Democratic opposition. 'I support the reasonable provisions in H.R. 1 that protect Medicaid's long-term viability and ensure the program continues to serve our most vulnerable, but I will not support a final bill that eliminates vital funding streams our hospitals rely on, including provider taxes and state directed payments, or any provisions that punish expansion states,' Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) wrote in a statement on Saturday. 'President Trump was clear when he said to root out our waste, fraud, and abuse without cutting Medicaid and I wholeheartedly agree,' he continued. 'I urge my Senate colleagues to stick to the Medicaid provisions in H.R. 1 — otherwise I will vote no.' Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told The Hill that he is also opposed to the bill because of the Medicaid provider tax provision. Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) is currently a 'no' on the measure because of the Medicaid language, rollback of solar energy credits and public lands provisions, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), meanwhile, told The Hill that he is against the current version of the package because of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap proposal. The legislation would increase the currently $10,000 SALT cap to $40,000 for individuals making $500,000 or less for five years, then snap back to the original number. 'While I support the President's broader agenda, how could I support the same unfair $10k SALT cap I've spent years criticizing?' LaLota said. 'A permanent $40k deduction cap with income thresholds of $225k for single filers and $450k for joint filers would earn my vote.' It is not, however, just moderates who are signaling issues with the Senate bill: Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, posted an ominous message on X that suggested he was not pleased with the package. 'I will not negotiate via X. But it's important to know that jamming us with a bill before we've had any chance to review the implications of major changes & re-writes, fluid scores, a high likelihood of violating the house framework (deficits) , & tons of swamp buy-offs is bad,' he wrote. The opposition is rising to the surface as Senate Republicans inch closer to holding an initial vote on the 'big, beautiful bill,' which would officially kick off the consideration process and eventually tee up a final vote in the House. It remains unclear, however, if Senate GOP leaders have the votes to move forward. If the motion to proceed passes by a simple majority, the chamber would hold a series of unlimited amendment votes called a vote-a-rama, which could result in changes to the measure. Senate GOP leaders are also still talking to holdouts and could make changes to the bill as written. In the meantime, House Republicans — beginning to review the revised Senate text unveiled overnight — are expressing resistance to the measure, prompting serious questions about whether top GOP lawmakers will be able to enact the legislation by their self-imposed July 4 deadline. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) convened a call with the House Republican Conference Saturday afternoon and urged lawmakers to keep their concerns with the Senate bill private, and instead speak directly with their senators and the White House, two sources told The Hill. Senate Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told members that it is unlikely they will have to return to Washington on Monday, the sources said. Tuesday or Wednesday is more realistic, he told lawmakers. One source told The Hill that the call was brief and leadership did not take questions. The main qualm among House Republicans appears to be the Medicaid language in the bill. The Senate's legislation includes a proposal that would effectively cap provider taxes at 3.5 percent by 2031, down from the current 6 percent, but only for the states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The decrease was initially supposed to begin in 2027, with a 0.5 percent phase down annually, but Senate Republicans overnight changed the text to delay the implementation to 2028. The upper chamber also inserted a provision to create a $25 billion rural hospital relief fund that would be distributed over five years to assuage those concerns. The changes, however, do not seem to be solving all of the GOP's problems, with House Republicans still voicing opposition to the language. Aside from Medicaid, the Senate bill's rollback of green-energy tax credits is an issue for some House Republicans. The revised legislation for the upper chamber slashes tax incentives for wind and solar energy and adds a new tax on future wind and solar projects. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) would not say how he plans to vote on the bill, but signaled that he is not happy with the Medicaid provisions and green-energy tax credit language. 'Instead of improving the Medicaid and energy portions of [the] House bill it appears the Senate went backwards,' he told The Hill.
The Hill
41 minutes ago
- The Hill
Mary Trump slams ‘extraordinarily dangerous' attacks on Mamdani
Mary Trump, the president's niece, slammed right-wing attacks on Zohran Mamdani, the winner of New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, calling them 'extraordinarily dangerous' on SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah's Friday show. 'It is not going to stop here. It's going to get worse,' Mary Trump said in response to a question about comments by President Trump and others attacking Mamdani, who would be the city's first Muslim mayor if elected. The president derided Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a '100% Communist Lunatic' on Wednesday. 'This is not the first time that President Trump is going to comment on myself, and I encourage him — just like I encourage every New Yorker — to learn about my actual policies to make the city affordable,' Mamdani responded. Other influencers and lawmakers in the MAGA ecosystem have gone even further, often playing on Islamophobic tropes. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) called on Mamdani, who became a U.S. citizen in 2018, to be denaturalized and deported. The president's son Donald Trump Jr. and conservative influencers Charlie Kirk and Laura Loomer have connected his election victory to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mary Trump, who lives in New York City, condemned attacks against Mamdani as 'anti-Muslim bigotry.' Mamdani has spoken openly about receiving violent threats throughout his campaign. The New York City Police Department investigated an alleged car bomb threat against him in early June, and his campaign hired security during the primary in response to an uptick in threats against him.
