The Washington, D.C., mayoral race intensified this week as campaign officials and political allies filed competing complaints and defenses over campaign conduct, turning the contest into a dispute over campaign finance law and election rules.
After a decade in office, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she would not seek a fourth term. Nine candidates have filed to run in the June Democratic primary to succeed her. This week, two leading contenders, Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie, escalated tensions by filing competing complaints against one another.
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One complaint targets Ward 4 Councilmember Lewis George, whose mayoral bid is facing an Office of Campaign Finance investigation into allegations that it improperly coordinated with unions backing an independent political action committee, Safe & Affordable DC PAC.
The six-page complaint, filed by Kevin Sobkoviak, alleges Lewis George’s campaign and supporting unions “are engaging in concerted coordinated activity” that violates campaign finance laws requiring separation between candidates and outside groups, as well as detailed spending disclosures.
OCF General Counsel William SanFord informed both sides on Friday that the agency had opened an investigation, noting details would remain confidential until it is completed. D.C. officials have said OCF reviews all complaints it receives but does not automatically launch formal inquiries.
Lewis George’s campaign has denied wrongdoing, calling the allegations “a baseless complaint.” In a statement Monday, the campaign said it follows legal guidance from counsel and “has had no involvement in the unions’ contributions or in the PAC’s activities.”
Meanwhile, Ed Lazere, a political activist and Lewis George supporter, has filed a separate complaint involving candidate Kenyan McDuffie’s 2022 campaigns.
That filing questions whether McDuffie improperly switched races after participating in the city’s Fair Elections Program during his 2022 attorney general bid. McDuffie received more than $845,000 in public matching funds before being ruled ineligible for the ballot, after which he later ran for an At-Large Council seat in the same cycle.
Lazere argues Fair Elections rules may have barred such a move or required fuller repayment of public funds before another campaign.
McDuffie’s campaign has forcefully rejected the claims.
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Campaign manager Shelli Jackson called Lazere’s complaint “completely false” and “a distraction,” citing a 2022 Board of Elections letter stating McDuffie was not barred from running for Council after his attorney general candidacy was invalidated before he appeared on the ballot.
Jackson also accused Lewis George’s supporters of trying to deflect attention from the OCF investigation involving her campaign.
