D.C.'s election anxiety dials up
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The National Guard holds back protesters after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
D.C. is feeling election anxiety up and down — from businesses contemplating boarding up storefronts to authorities hardening security for potential unrest, no matter who wins.
Why it matters: With less than two weeks until Election Day, Washington is gaming out what-ifs after living through an attack on the Capitol that terrorized the city.
State of play: Mayor Muriel Bowser urges residents to be "flexible" as demonstrations and detours pop up. The city is heightening security on key days, including Jan. 6, 2025, when Congress will certify the presidential election results.
- Bowser isn't currently asking to deploy the National Guard — whose presence after Jan. 6, 2021, evoked a militarized zone — though the mayor and White House have that option.
What we're watching: Protests. There are already about a dozen permit applications for demonstrations related to abortion, the Israel-Hamas war, and climate change, according to the National Park Service.
- A 100,000-person public space permit is being sought for Jan. 20 by groups seeking to protest a potential inauguration of former President Trump.
Behind the scenes: The Capitol Police, a once little-known department that saw blowback after the insurrection, told Axios they have hired "several hundred" more officers since 2021, for a force of 2,100.
- Declaring that "intelligence was one of the top priorities" after 1/6, the department says it hired a new intel director from the NYPD.
- The Capitol Police chief can now request the National Guard without approval from the police board, a roadblock in 2021.
"We do expect the Capitol complex to be much more hardened," Bowser said this week.
- Even as of September, security was "preparing in a way that is very different than what has happened in the past," said Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman. "I had never seen anything like it."
For the first time, the D.C. Board of Elections will keep armed guards at its headquarters on election night, and "remain on high alert for any potential threats" at polling stations, spokesperson Sarah Graham told Axios.
- Political HQs are taking their own steps. Citing pipe bombs discovered outside the DNC and RNC in 2021, the National Democratic Club says it recently made its windows ballistic-proof, its manager told the Washington Post.
Zoom in: Downtown, Leona Agouridis, the head of the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, says building owners are in a "readiness posture."
- Some are playing wait-and-see. Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj, who caters to a bipartisan mix at his upscale restaurants like Bombay Club and La Bise by the White House, tells Axios he's eyeing early voting polls before deciding to adopt extra security measures.
- "I hope it's a peaceful transfer of power, but you have to be prepared," says Bajaj, whose former White House-adjacent restaurant was vandalized during George Floyd protests in 2020. "Activity usually picks up after it's decided who won."
Bowser is tamping down on alarmism: "I don't think people should be boarding up their buildings," she said this week.
- Business groups will have regular calls with the mayor's office to stay on top of preparedness.
- D.C. says building owners and businesses should go into "see something, say something" mode. Council member Brooke Pinto recommends signing up for D.C. alerts and monitoring alleys and loading docks.
Capitol Hill residents, who had the Jan. 6 riot in their backyard, will see a bigger security perimeter for the certification of votes, which will impact how people move around that day — and even schedules for five schools in the vicinity.
Andrew Solender and Anna Spiegel contributed reporting.
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