re: Washington DC About to Elect It's First Democratic Socialist Mayor

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The nation’s capital is in the throes of a mayoral election, and buckle up. The apparent front-runner in Washington, D.C.’s June 16 Democratic primary is a Zohran Mamdani lite, setting up what could become a confrontation with the Trump Administration.

The seat is open after Muriel Bowser, who counts as sane and effective by Washington standards, decided not to run for a fourth term. The front-runner in the polls to replace her is Janeese Lewis George, proudly affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America. Kenyan McDuffie, a more conventional Democrat for better and worse, is in second. The winner of the Democratic primary is all but a shoo-in come the general election in November.

This sets the stage for the district’s Mamdani moment. Ms. Lewis George isn’t promising government-run supermarkets as the New York mayor is. But she does want to build 72,000 new housing units within five years, while expanding rent control. A centerpiece of this program is a pledge to ramp up government-owned housing construction. She promises a universal childcare subsidy.

She’d try to pay for this with a new tax on the incomes of people who own businesses in the district but live in Virginia or Maryland. In theory she says this would raise $500 million. In practice it would chase lobbyists and law firms into offices across the city line.

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She’d try to pay for this with a new tax on the incomes of people who own businesses in the district but live in Virginia or Maryland. In theory she says this would raise $500 million. In practice it would chase lobbyists and law firms into offices across the city line.

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