Exclusive: D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George reveals how she'd handle Trump
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Janeese Lewis George. Photo: Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George would support a new business tax to fund child care for all. And says she'd work with President Trump on redeveloping downtown.
Why it matters: Lewis George is vying against Kenyan McDuffie to lead the nation's capital, and her strategy echoes that of fellow democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor who isn't shy about his disagreements with Trump but also seeks areas of cooperation.
Driving the news: Lewis George dove deep into a range of topics for the first time on the latest episode of the "Dream City Podcast," co-hosted by Cuneyt and Tom Sherwood.
Here are the most interesting takeaways:
Home rule: As mayor, Lewis George wouldn't poke the bear to "jeopardize our autonomy" as a federal district — emphasizing pragmatism.
- "We gotta find ways that we can find agreement," she said, like rethinking National Park Service land and appealing to Trump's developer instincts to get moving on projects like a new neighborhood behind Union Station. "We are people who are about growth."
- Yes, but: The city wouldn't cooperate with ICE: "I draw the line at the harm to our people and our families."
Child care for all: She promised that families would pay no more than 7% of their earned income on child care. Instead of spending $2,200 a month, a family of three making $100,000 would pay $600, she said. Lower-income families might pay nothing.
- Friction point: D.C.'s child care subsidy already has a $32 million deficit.
- Lewis George said she'd fund her promised expansion through trimming the city's "bloated budget," taking cues from Mamdani's "chief savings officer."
- If that doesn't net enough savings, her "backup choice" would be a business activity tax — targeting D.C. law, lobbying and consulting firms that she says benefit from a loophole.
💡 1 downtown idea: Clone NoMa — the industrial zone turned hip neighborhood. "NoMa was a perfect opportunity and example of how [to] build housing downtown," she said. "How they use transit as an anchor."
🚦 K Street Transitway: A project to build bike lanes and a streetcar line on K Street was pared down to bus lanes during the Bowser administration, only for the entire project to stall under the weight of businesses concerned about car traffic.
- Lewis George didn't commit to revamping K Street, saying she wants to "find the best streets" to add more reliable cross-town transit.
👍 Commanders stadium district: She's studying ways to break ground quicker on the decade-ish, 6,000-unit residential development around the stadium. "I do think the opportunity is there."
👍 Artificial intelligence: Yes to deploying AI for innovation, like improving traffic flow, citing Boston's use, and making city government "work more efficiently."
- "We're gonna create a balanced approach," she said, because "I want to make sure we are not displacing workers."
👎 Robotaxis: "I don't think our city is ready for Waymo at this moment" — she's first and foremost concerned about safety.
🚨 Crime: Amid a decline in the number of D.C. cops, Lewis George said D.C. needs to continue recruiting officers, but she declined to commit to a specific staffing target. She supports shifting mental health and traffic duties away from police so they can focus on violent crime.
Full episode: Watch on YouTube or listen on podcast platforms.