Three candidates for Washington, D.C.’s new mayor disputed truancy and public safety policy at the May 18 Democratic mayoral primary debate hosted by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics).
Three of the seven Democratic mayoral candidates — Gary Goodweather, Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and former at-large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie — deliberated policy responses and butted heads on questions and fallouts of policy responses. FOX 5, a local news channel, joined Georgetown University in hosting the event, which was moderated by FOX 5 journalists Jim Lokay and Katie Barlow (LAW ’14) and GU Politics Executive Director Mo Elleithee (SFS ’94).
Goodweather, a former captain in the U.S. Army, has worked as a real estate developer for the last 30 years. Lewis George was a former D.C. assistant attorney general before starting her term as a D.C. councilmember in 2021. McDuffie served as an independent at-large councilmember from 2023 to 2026, having previously represented Ward 5 from 2012 to 2023.
Carole Roan Gresenz — the dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy, where the event was held — said the debate reflects the school’s belief in engagement in the city.
“This is an event that sits at the heart of what the McCourt School is about — rigorous policy debate and community engagement,” Gresenz said before the debate. “We believe in the importance of our work to solve the complex and pressing policy issues of today and we believe in the importance of connecting policy to the people that those policies are designed to serve.”
Barlow began moderating the debate, saying the next D.C. mayor will inherit pressing challenges.
“You all have made a number of promises on the campaign trail, but you don’t have a magic wand,” Barlow said at the debate. “Many of those promises, to get them over the finish line, you’re going to need council votes, you’re going to need budget dollars. Sometimes you’ll need agreement from neighboring states and often you’ll need approval from the federal government.”
“So, our goal tonight is to go beyond the promises to understand how,” Barlow added. “How are you going to get these things done and why should the voters believe that you can?”
Debate questions, collected from FOX 5 viewers and Georgetown community members, ranged from federal intervention in the District and youth public safety to education and utilities costs.
The cost of living has become a central issue for D.C. voters, as the District has seen unemployment rates increase and affordable housing diminish.
Lewis George said she plans to focus on housing and family costs.
“We are facing an affordability crisis in this city,” Lewis George said at the debate. “People from the middle class and the margins are feeling the squeeze. And so as mayor, I’m going to prioritize building more housing, so we have more affordable housing and lower costs. We’re going to expand access to universal access for child care so that no family is spending more than 7% of their income on child care.”
McDuffie said a key part of his platform to address problems in the city is public safety.
“Right now, we know that public safety really depends on public trust and the trust in the Metropolitan Police Department has been shaken,” McDuffie said at the debate. “So, I’m going to focus on making sure that we appoint top-quality leadership at the top of the Metropolitan Police Department so that we can restore a culture of accountability and transparency.”
The new mayoral candidate will replace current D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who announced she would not run for a fourth term in November 2025. Bowser, who has been the mayor since 2015, steered the city through the COVID-19 pandemic response, Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Still, Bowser faced criticism from Democratic colleagues for her response to the Trump administration’s initiatives in D.C.
In August 2025, Trump announced he was federalizing the District’s police force, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and deploying National Guard members, who have appeared near and on Georgetown University’s campus, in reference to D.C.’s crime rate and MPD’s purported failures. In addition to criticism against Bowser, the police takeover led to major concerns among community members, sparking protests on campus and across D.C.
Goodweather, Lewis George and McDuffie have each said they would end federal intervention in D.C. and prohibit MPD’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Goodweather said, as a former member of the National Guard, the group’s presence in D.C. is not representative of a beneficial relationship between the people and the government.
“What is happening to our city is antithetical to the oath that I took to the Constitution,” Goodweather said at the debate. “I will not allow collaboration between MPD and ICE. This is a failure of not fully staffing the Metropolitan Police Department and making them a part of the community, ensuring that they receive the best training, ensuring that they have the ability to live in the city that they serve, in the communities that they serve.”
Though Trump has threatened to cut D.C.’s budget should the mayor refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement, Lewis George said she would focus on protecting and analyzing spending if Trump were to cut the District’s budget.
“First, we use our legal tools,” Lewis George said. “We go to court and we file an injunction. We use every legal tool we can to fight back. We go to Congress. We walk the halls of Congress. The Congress is who authorizes budgets, not the president. And we build the relationships in Congress that we need to ensure that we are filibuster-proof and we don’t have Democrats siding with Republicans and taking away District funds.”
Another central issue for D.C. voters is youth violence, particularly as it relates to crime reduction initiatives. The moderators specifically referenced a video circulating of teenagers in a brawl at a Chipotle in Navy Yard.
To combat youth violence, Goodweather said the District must focus on prevention.
“We also need to address the underlying causes of why this is happening, and that is poverty and mental health,” Goodweather said. “I will say it until I do not need to say it again: Mental health is health, and we are going to hire more mental health professionals.”
The candidates also debated D.C.’s public education system, where more than half of District high school students face chronic absenteeism.
McDuffie said current improvements in the D.C. public school system are uneven.
“We need to show up for communities across the District of Columbia so they get what they need,” McDuffie said. “We’re going to focus on early literacy, making sure we have quality teachers, quality curriculum. We’re going to focus on teacher retention, particularly in high need communities.”
The D.C. Democratic mayoral primary election will be held June 16, with early voting beginning June 8. This primary will be the first time D.C. uses ranked choice ballots, allowing voters to rank up to five of the seven candidates.
Moderators ended the debate by asking who each candidate would choose to rank second, to which no candidate answered with someone else on stage. Only Goodweather answered the question, saying a different candidate, Hope Solomon.
Gresenz said the debate is representative of the issues students see daily.
“The future of this city is personal to our school and to our students,” Gresenz said.
