As far as Democrat mayors go, D.C.’s Muriel Bowser is not all that bad.
She worked well with President Donald Trump on the crime issue in her city, and she, for the most part, has avoided a lot of the venom that typically gets tossed at Republicans.
Shockingly, she has decided not to run for re-election, and regardless of the reason she stated, I would bet that the current political climate had a lot to do with it.
When Trump federalized D.C. in order to tackle crime, initially, Bowser seemed to welcome the help.
Of course, Democrats lost their minds, so she felt compelled to take the obligatory shots at Trump and Republicans, but she did continue to work with the feds to get crime rates down.
In addition to the crime problem, homelessness was also addressed, with Bowser stating, “Outreach teams identified 764 total individuals living outside, with 81 people living in tents. Since the start of the surge, approximately 80 additional individuals have entered the District’s shelter system.”
In terms of the Trump administration's ability to achieve cooperation from a Democrat, to be blunt, it was not going to get any better than this.
If you work with Trump, he has no problem giving praise across the aisle as long as there is common ground identified.
On the cooperation with Bowser, Trump stated, "Wow! Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing crime down to virtually nothing in D.C.”
He continued, "Her statements and actions were positive, instead of others like [Illinois Gov. J.B.] Pritzker, [Maryland Gov.] Wes Moore, [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, and the 5% approval-rated mayor of Chicago, who spend all of their time trying to justify violent crime instead of working with us to completely eliminate it, which we have done in Washington, D.C., now a crime-free zone.”
But I think that praise from Trump and her cooperation likely took a toll on Bowser, and I would not doubt for a second that she was getting dirty looks from members of her party for having done it.
On Tuesday, Bowser announced that she was going to step down after a decade serving the D.C. area.
She stated, "My fellow Washingtonians, for 10 years, you and I have worked together on an ambitious agenda to restore faith in our government and ensure that every D.C. resident gets the fair shot they deserve. To keep that promise, we took big swings, keeping D.C. teams in D.C., raising enrollment and graduation rates in our schools, and investing more money in housing than any other city or state, creating 36,000 homes."
Bowser concluded, "… When you placed your trust in me 10 years ago, you gave me an extraordinary opportunity to have a positive impact on my hometown. Every day since, I've cherished the opportunity and have happily given all my passion and energy to the job that I love. Together, you and I have built a legacy of success, of which I'm intensely proud, and for the next 12 months, let's run through the tape and keep winning for D.C."
The next mayoral election in D.C. is during the 2026 cycle, so I am curious to see who rises to take Bowser's place. I fear that the current socialist movement taking hold in other cities will move in to try to capitalize on the opening. I know a Republican will never get a look, so our only hope is to get a moderate, but I just don’t see that happening, considering the early buzz about possible candidates. One of the names being mentioned right now as a possible frontrunner is Janeese Lewis George, another Democrat socialist.
