Saturday, I spent the day at Shiloh Baptist Church celebrating Juneteenth and Father’s Day. The daylong program spanned three floors of the church and featured a wellness village on the basketball court — yes, a full NBA court-sized wellness village. An outdoor stage featured African and Asian dancers, martial arts, singers and lion/dragon drumming. An indoor youth program included stories of violence and substance use prevention, poetry, speaking, and a side room featuring chess play, an AI demonstration, a drum orchestra class, and a tribute to fathers. I had my son Ambrose III with me all day. Organized by “It’s Time to Get Involved,” the Brotherhood of Shiloh Men, Million Man Vote and many other organizations, this event was the culmination of only three months of solid planning. It was a welcome break from months of what seemed to be acrimonious campaigning.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all the candidates who won elected positions representing the District of Columbia in the primary elections. It was a hard-fought campaign season, but it’s not over yet. On to the November general elections, where independents can run against the primary election winners. Two of my three highest-ranked choice candidates won their primaries!

Delegate to Congress: Robert White

D.C. Mayor: Janeese Lewis George

D.C. Council Chair: Phil Mendelson

D.C. Council At-Large: Oye Owolewa

D.C. Council At-Large (Independent): Elissa Silverman

Analysis:

While I certainly congratulate the primary winners, I am deeply disappointed with the severe lack of attention paid to the issues faced mainly by Black residents in Wards 7 and 8. Overall, only 28% of all D.C. registered voters even voted in what was touted as a “generational” election. Very few of the candidates — and certainly the front-runner mayoral candidates — paid little more than lip service and canned phrases to the very serious issues faced by Black men, Black families and Black youth. Something is wrong with the political landscape.

Here is a breakdown based on most of the televised candidate forums, other data and previous campaign phraseology comparisons:

Only 136,289 out of 482,968 D.C. registered voters voted (28.2%).

More mail-in and special ballots (57.2%) than early and Election Day in-person voting (42.7%).

Mayoral candidate McDuffie barely won Ward 3 (45% to 43%) but had no higher than 38% in any other ward and lost his home Ward 5 (55% to 34%).

Mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George barely had a majority of Ward 7 and Ward 8 combined votes (50.15%) but performed much higher in other wards.

Overall D.C. Turnout

2024 Primary: 25.9% of registered voters voted.

2022 Primary: 32.2% of registered voters voted.

2020 Primary: 28% of registered voters voted.

2018 Primary: 18.6% of registered voters voted.

2016 Primary: 21.7% of registered voters voted.

2014 Primary: 26.9% of registered voters voted.

2012 Primary: 16% of registered voters voted.

2010 Primary: 37% of registered voters voted.

In seven out of the last nine primary elections, over 18 years, no more than 28% of registered D.C. voters voted.

East of the River voting turnout (primaries):

2026 — Ward 7: 22.9% Ward 8: 17.6% of registered voters voted.

2024 — Ward 7: 25.5% Ward 8: 17.7% of registered voters voted.

2022 — Ward 7: 26.7% Ward 8: 20.7% of registered voters voted.

2020 — Ward 7: 23.3% Ward 8: 18.1% of registered voters voted.

2018 — Ward 7: 12.5% Ward 8: 8.3% of registered voters voted.

2016 — Ward 7: 18.3% Ward 8: 14.1% of registered voters voted.

2014 — Ward 7: 21.5% Ward 8: 15.5% of registered voters voted.

2012 — Ward 7: 18.8% Ward 8: 15.4% of registered voters voted.

2010 — Ward 7: 35.6% Ward 8: 30.2% of registered voters voted.

Only during both the Obama and Biden midterms did voting turnout exceed one in four voters in Ward 7 and one in five voters in Ward 8. No D.C. mayoral or ward council election garnered that level of interest or turnout. Why?

I’ll tell you why. Our politics is stale like 2-month-old bread. No innovation. Nothing to inspire. Candidates won’t risk innovative ideas. Nothing transformative. That’s why we haven’t solved a single social determinant problem in decades. The D.C. Democratic Party is impotent — more of a “party” than an actual political party. Independents tend to be demagogic. We live in a growing totalitarian state, and most Black leadership is too scared to challenge what they see with their eyes. White so-called “progressive” leadership will only go so far and will include endemic Black issues only when pushed past its latent racism. Fascism isn’t only represented by a “king” — it’s an oppressive system that separates the poor, no matter their color, and rewards the incompetent, ignorant and racist wealthy, along with the cronies who overtly, covertly or through apathy support their hegemony. Mostly everyone else struggles.

THE FOUR RECURRING FORUM QUESTIONS AT A GLANCE

1. Public safety and youth curfews: How should D.C. respond to violent crime, disruptive youth gatherings, first-responder gaps and community distrust?

2. Affordability and household costs: How will the mayor reduce rent, home prices, utility bills, child-care costs and the daily cost of staying in D.C.?

3. Federal overreach and home rule: How should the mayor resist federal pressure, immigration enforcement, congressional interference and threats to local control?

4. Government accountability and basic services: How will the next mayor make agencies answer phones, fix 311 complaints, speed permits, repair schools, regulate utilities and deliver measurable results?

WHAT EAST OF THE RIVER RESIDENTS SHOULD ADD

1. Public safety, youth gatherings and curfews. The East of the River question is more specific: What is the annual public-safety investment plan for Ward 7 and Ward 8, and how much of it is enforcement, how much is treatment, how much is youth employment, how much is school attendance support, and how much is credible-neighbor violence interruption?

2. Affordability, housing, utilities and child care. The missing East of the River question is whether affordability will be measured by citywide averages or by the ability of Black renters, seniors, returning citizens, young parents and low-wage workers to remain in their neighborhoods. Lewis George proposes social housing, stronger rent stabilization, universal affordable child care and utility-rate oversight. McDuffie proposes faster housing production, preserving affordable units, first-time homebuyer expansion, child-cost relief and a delivery-oriented affordability agenda.

3. Defending D.C. against federal overreach. East of the River residents should ask how either approach protects residents from federal policing, protects local budgets from congressional interference and keeps D.C. investments from being redirected away from Wards 7 and 8.

4. Government accountability and reliable basic services. From an East of the River perspective, accountability means more than customer service. It means public dashboards by ward, contract-performance standards, Cedar Hill quality standards, treatment capacity standards, literacy and attendance targets, and public reporting on whether Black-owned and Ward 7/Ward 8 businesses receive real grants and contracts.

COMPARING CURRENT FRONT-RUNNER LANGUAGE WITH MURIEL BOWSER’S CANDIDATE/GOVERNING LANGUAGE — Same Damn Language

The comparison below is important because many 2026 campaign themes are not new. They echo Bowser-era formulations that promised growth, affordability, safety and opportunity across all eight wards. For Black East of the River voters, the question is whether the next mayor will simply reuse the language or convert it into enforceable, ward-specific redistribution of power and resources.

Theme	Bowser language/approach	Current front-runner language	Similarity and East of the River test
All eight wards	Bowser repeatedly framed education, housing and opportunity as “all eight wards” commitments, including high-quality schools and housing production across the city. [7], [8]	Lewis George and McDuffie both promise citywide delivery: “government works for residents in all eight wards,” “opportunity in every ward,” and affordable housing/safety for all residents. [11]-[22]	The similarity is the language of inclusion. The test is whether “all eight wards” means proportional equity or whether affluent wards receive new amenities while Wards 7 and 8 receive delayed promises.
Housing and affordability	Bowser’s 2019 order set a target of 36,000 new homes, 12,000 affordable, tied to the Comprehensive Plan. [7]	Lewis George proposes more aggressive housing production, social housing, rent stabilization and tenant protections; McDuffie proposes 12,000 new units, 20,000 preserved affordable units, faster approvals and homeownership support. [11], [19]	All three use housing production and affordability language. The differences are ownership model, regulatory approach and whether East of the River residents gain stability, ownership and anti-displacement protections.
Public safety	Bowser’s 2022 campaign emphasized more police officers plus violence-interruption spending; Axios reported crime dominated the 2022 debate. [9], [10]	Lewis George emphasizes prevention, intervention, enforcement and community hubs; McDuffie emphasizes staffing, 911 modernization, public-health prevention, first responders and measurable results. [13], [21]	The similarity is “both enforcement and prevention.” The East of the River test is whether treatment, youth jobs, trauma response and community-based prevention are funded at the scale of enforcement.
Schools, child care and youth	Bowser language emphasized high-quality schools in all eight wards, universal pre-K as an asset, early learning tax credits, school technology, vocational offerings and summer programs. [8]	Lewis George proposes universal affordable child care and expanded afterschool programs; McDuffie proposes a birth-to-adulthood pipeline, Baby Bonds, out-of-school time, apprenticeships and education dashboards. [12], [15], [20], [22]	The similarity is education as opportunity. The East of the River test is whether candidates fund literacy, free child care, adult education and paid pathways rather than only school slogans.
Economic development and local ownership	Bowser used Opportunity Zones, Ward 8 TIF investment, workforce housing and public-private development language to promise jobs and amenities in overlooked neighborhoods. [7], [8]	Lewis George names groceries and retail in Wards 5, 7 and 8, lease subsidies, anchor institutions and First Source standards; McDuffie stresses growth with guardrails, small business support, opportunity and accountability. [14], [17], [18], [29]	The similarity is growth-plus-equity language. The East of the River test is whether Black residents and certified business enterprises own the development, not merely work in it.

TOP 3 UNDER-DISCUSSED PRIORITIES

The earlier brief identified three broad under-discussed priorities. This expanded version keeps those priorities but folds additional issues into a stronger East of the River governing agenda.

1. Health equity, Cedar Hill accountability and opioid treatment. The next mayor should be required to publish quality, staffing, wait-time, maternal-health, specialty-care and patient-safety benchmarks for Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center and to fund opioid-use-disorder treatment East of the River at a level that matches the scale of deaths among Black residents. Public safety must include treatment, not only policing and curfew enforcement. [24]

2. Economic security, direct cash, youth jobs, CBEs and Black wealth-building. The forums did not sufficiently connect household cash, youth employment, adult workforce training, CBE contracts and ownership. East of the River voters should demand a combined plan: guaranteed paid summer jobs, year-round apprenticeships, CBE grant and contract targets, First Source enforcement, direct cash pilots or basic-income expansion, and homeownership support. [14], [17], [20], [23], [27], [28]

3. Land-use justice, child care, literacy and neighborhood amenities. The Comprehensive Plan, free child care, literacy standards and grocery/transit/broadband/retail access belong together. Land use determines where housing, schools, health facilities, jobs and retail go. Child care and literacy determine whether families can work and children can read. Neighborhood amenities determine whether East of the River communities have the same everyday infrastructure that other parts of the city treat as normal. [6], [12], [15], [17], [25], [26]

QUESTIONS EAST OF THE RIVER VOTERS SHOULD PRESS

Will you commit to using the D.C. 2050 Comprehensive Plan rewrite to require anti-displacement, affordable housing, grocery, health, school, transit and CBE goals for Ward 7 and Ward 8?

Will you support a targeted basic-income or direct-cash program for East of the River families, returning citizens, young parents or disconnected youth, and how will it be funded?

Will you guarantee free or near-free child care first for low-income families, shift workers, student parents and parents entering job training?

What is your K-3 literacy guarantee, and will you fund high-impact tutoring, adult literacy and family literacy programs East of the River?

What annual dollar target will you set for CBE grants and contracts to Black-owned and Ward 7/Ward 8 firms, including prime contracts and subcontracts?

How many same-day opioid-treatment slots, mobile treatment units, peer-recovery positions and 24/7 crisis-care options will you fund East of the River?

Will every Ward 7 and Ward 8 youth who wants a paid summer job receive one, and how will SYEP connect to year-round apprenticeships, credentials, literacy support and CBE employment?

BOTTOM LINE

East of the River voters are not asking for a separate city. They are asking for equal urgency, enforceable commitments and a mayoral agenda that treats Black life, Black families, Black businesses, Black health and Black land retention as central to D.C.’s future. The strongest mayoral platform will not simply promise affordability, safety and opportunity “in all eight wards.” It will name the policies, dollars, deadlines and accountability tools that ensure Wards 7 and 8 are no longer the last places to receive what other parts of the city already have.