DC Mayor Bowser, who walked a tightrope with Trump, won’t seek reelection
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday she will not run for reelection after 10 years leading the nation’s capital and walking a fine line with the Trump administration in recent months as she sought to protect the city’s autonomy during a federal law enforcement surge.
“It has been the honor of my life to be your mayor. Together, we have built a legacy of success of which I am intensely proud,” she said in a video posted to social media, touting several city infrastructure projects.
In an interview with local news outlet NBC News4, Bowser, a Democrat, noted that she made the decision for her family, and said it was time “to pass the baton onto the next set of leaders who are going to take our city to the next level.”
Bowser, who emerged as a leading figure in the Democratic resistance during President Donald Trump’s first term, has taken a different approach in his second term, repeatedly insisting that protecting DC’s limited autonomy was her “north star.”
During the law enforcement surge, the approach drew criticism from some Democrats who felt that she should take a stronger stance and resist the administration’s tactics. She received praise from Trump, who called DC a model for other potential federal deployments in Democratic-led cities.
Earlier this year, facing political pressure, Bowser announced that Black Lives Matter Plaza would be removed, telling CNN at the time that “we have bigger fish to fry” and pointing toward the looming financial and existential crises her city suddenly faced under Trump.
Bowser’s announcement comes as some Republican lawmakers float reforming or even undoing DC’s Home Rule Act – a law that balances local self-governance with federal oversight in the capital. In her announcement, she did not mention Trump but did say she stood up to bullies and preserved Home Rule.
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