WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The last time Washington, D.C., residents chose and in the same election, gas was $1.33 a gallon and George H.W. Bush was president.
This fall they will do it again 鈥� under starkly different circumstances.
As the city heads toward pivotal primaries this month to pick candidates for those roles, on is shaping up as a major campaign issue. The fresh slate of candidates is weighing how best to approach Trump’s Republican administration and congressional control over the heavily Democratic city’s affairs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a big sea change in city politics, no matter how the elections shake out,鈥� said Amanda Huron, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia who teaches courses on D.C. history and politics. But Washington鈥檚 lack of full autonomy brings 鈥渁ll sorts of peculiarities around the city鈥檚 governance.鈥�
Since Trump returned to office last year, as part of what he calls a crime-fighting mission. He is putting his personal imprint on the city鈥檚 storied landmarks. And have compounded economic pressures on the capital, which has one of the country鈥檚 highest unemployment rates.
The city has long had a unique, if fraught, relationship with the federal government: While residents can vote for their local leaders, they are limited by Washington鈥檚 status as a federal district in how much influence they can actually have on the city鈥檚 affairs. That limited autonomy has been further squeezed under Trump and his federal law enforcement takeover, launched last year.
This fall, current council members Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie are the frontrunners vying to replace , elected in 2014. The leading candidates in the race to succeed long-serving are Robert White Jr. and Brooke Pinto, also D.C. council members.
On June 16, primaries will be held for those roles, which in an overwhelmingly Democratic city usually dictate who will take the top spot come November.
Washington, and its elected officials, have limited autonomy
Washington, unlike other cities, does not control its fate.
What choices voters have is through a limited passed by Congress in 1973 that allowed residents to elect their local government leaders.
But Congress retains control over local affairs, including the approval of the budget and laws passed by the city council. Congressional members elected by voters from thousands of miles away routinely introduce measures to impact city affairs.
That has meant local leaders must balance pressures from their constituents with the demands of Congress and the administration 鈥� an act Bowser was forced to perform repeatedly.
During Trump’s first term, she ordered the painting and naming of , just north of the White House, in 2020. Just months after Trump鈥檚 inauguration to his second term, she agreed to remove it in response to pressure from congressional Republicans.
That act, the decimation of the federal workforce by and and the National Guard into the city have emerged as central themes in the election season. Right now, about 3,500 troops are in the city 鈥� a number authorities say will climb to 5,000 as the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations approach.
Trump has routinely said his intervention has made Washington 鈥渙ne of the safest” and most beautiful cities in the country, enjoying a historic drop in crime.
Candidates campaign on promise of resistance to Trump
George told The Associated Press that her top priority is addressing 鈥渢he affordability crisis here in D.C., which the Trump administration has only made worse by unjustly firing federal employees en masse and militarizing our streets.鈥�
McDuffie said his top priority is public safety as crime continues to be an issue. He has said he would add 1,000 police officers over four years, fully staff the 911 call center after years of chronic staffing shortages and take a public health approach to violence reduction.
鈥淲e cannot have an affordable city,” he said, 鈥渨ithout public safety as its foundation.鈥�
Both said they would bolster the city鈥檚 legal defenses against federal overreach and said Bowser should have been less cooperative with federal authorities as they .
Alex Dodd, co-founder of Free DC, , said the organization endorsed George because of her willingness to be more aggressive in opposing Trump and congressional Republicans.
鈥淲hen our leaders comply with this administration before being forced, they are giving this regime an enormous advantage,鈥� he said.
Pat Wheeler, a native Washingtonian and communications consultant who served as a department head at Morgan State University, applauded Bowser for cooperating with the Trump administration on some aspects. She noted failure to do so could have sparked retribution and a loss of what little control city officials have.
鈥淭rump can snap his finger and the whole Republican Congress will say, 鈥楲et鈥檚 put a federal control board over the mayor,鈥欌�� she said.
Affordability and social issues also concerns
The D.C. delegate position is a nonvoting one, but it grants the nearly 700,000 people of the district, who have no other representation in Congress, a voice through speechmaking on the House floor and bill introduction.
But critics said during the second Trump administration and not visible enough in the fight against administration and congressional overreach on the city鈥檚 autonomy. She filed paperwork to end her campaign for reelection in January.
Norton, who has served 18 terms, has had . She and her predecessor, Walter Fauntroy Jr., both had national standing coming out of the civil rights era.
鈥淓leanor Holmes Norton is maybe one of the last major political figures who comes out of the civil rights movement,鈥� said Matt Dallek, a political historian at The George Washington University. “It鈥檚 a real passing of the torch.鈥�
The campaigns of candidates running to replace her have centered on local control, Trump and affordability. Frontrunners and council members Pinto and White have also engaged in personal skirmishes questioning the origins of campaign contributions and connections to Republicans.
Pinto told the AP her top priority for the city is self-governance, something that has 鈥渘ever been a true reality for the people of D.C.鈥�
She said affordability for the middle-class and working families is another concern.
White’s campaign has said he’s 鈥渘ot willing to continue to see our tax dollars used to allow DC police to cooperate and conspire with federal agents to trample our constitutional rights and to terrorize our communities.鈥�
Brenda Manley, a longtime resident of Ward 7, an area with a storied Black history across the Anacostia River, said the city was well managed despite the tensions with Trump. But she said she hoped all the candidates would spend more time on the campaign focusing on programs that are beneficial to all residents, like a tuition grant program championed by Norton or major strides made in education during Bowser’s tenure.
鈥淭hose type of programs matter,鈥� Manley said.
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