How will DC’s next mayor deal with President Trump?
Will D.C.’s next mayor have a better relationship with President Donald Trump than Mayor Muriel Bowser, and be successful keeping Congress out of the city’s affairs?
The six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for D.C. mayor were asked that question during a Monday night forum at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
Ward 4 D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George said she’ll take an inside-outside approach. Inside, building relationships on the Hill, and outside working with “Attorney General Brian Schwalb and use every legal lever we have to fight back.”
Former D.C. Council member Vincent Orange said he’ll negotiate on some things, except “non-negotiable things like home rule, “D.C. autonomy and the pursuit of statehood.”
“Other than that, we can least have a dialogue and to find the common ground,” Orange added.
Former At-large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie said he’ll push back on certain issues.
“We’re going to make sure on the first day in office that we end coordination between the Metropolitan Police Department and ICE,” he said.
McDuffie also said he’ll work with the federal government to successfully bring a new Washington Commanders stadium to the RFK property, renovate Union Station and bring “thousands of jobs to the District of Columbia.”
Hope Solomon, who was born and raised in D.C., said it comes down to having the right tact with Trump.
“Someone’s got to negotiate right? You have a lot of spicy personalities up here; you’ve got to pick the one that’s going to be able to negotiate with this administration,” she said.
Candidate Rini Sampath, a federal contractor, said she’ll focus on protecting residents’ rights.
“I want to make sure every Washingtonian never has to live in the fear that their rights to protest, their rights to assembly, will be infringed upon by this administration,” she said.
Local business owner Gary Goodweather said his focus will keep the feds of D.C.’s back.
“The best thing that I can do is create a D.C. government that is so effective, so well run, that it lifts our D.C. residents up. Because when I create a government that serves you so well, denying us rights, having federal intervention, is going to be much easier to fight against,” he said.
The D.C. Democratic primary is on June 16.