Washington, D.C, Mayor Muriel Bowser will not seek re-election to a fourth term, she told NBC-4 Washington in an interview that aired Tuesday.
She called the decision “the hardest thing I’ve had to do” and added she believes she’s “accomplished the things I set out to do” as mayor.
“It’s time for me to pass the baton on to the next set of leaders who are gonna take our city to the next level,” she said.
“I’ve learned how to be really good at my job and to be a good mayor. I know that there are a lot of people with ideas that can move this city forward. And, for me and for my family, now’s the time for me to do something else while I have a lot of energy and vigor and great ideas.”
Bowser addressed the decision in a post on X, where she called serving as mayor the “honor of my life” and said that she was proud of the “legacy of success.” She added she hasn’t already decide what she’d do next, but when asked whether she thought she would have won a fourth term, she noted she’s never lost an election.
Bowser’s recent months have been centered on a delicate dance with President Donald Trump over the federal law enforcement presence in the city and the slew of federal job cuts that have had a unique impact on the region, as well as negotiating a delicate deal to bring the Washington Commanders NFL franchise’s home field back into the district.
The mayor’s public relationship with the president was far different during his first term, when Bowser designated a two-block stretch outside the White House as Black Lives Matter Plaza, complete with a ground mural, a move that drew the ire of Republicans. This year, after a push from a Republican congressman to jeopardize city funding over the plaza, Bowser’s office removed it, and she said in a statement that the city’s top concern needs to be the “devastating impacts of the federal jobs cuts.”
“We started this year with a new president who was an avowed critic of the district, and we had to reset that relationship. We started with a president that clearly had a plan to move fast, and one of his targets was the district. And we also have a Congress that has pretty much given him carte blanche to do it,” she said.
She added,”Starting with the most recent elections, where we had just really a good turnout and great wins for Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia and New York City, the next 10 months are gonna be different than the last 10 months. So we see more of a check, more of a willingness to disagree with the president. So I think that bodes well for how the district and the president and the Congress will work together as we approach the midterms.”
The mayor has also tried to walk a careful line in cooperating with the Trump administration in its decision to surge federal troops to the city in the name of fighting violent crime and enforcing immigration laws, all while staving off repeated GOP threats to repeal the city’s home rule — a balancing act that has earned her both praise and criticism.
Asked about her posture toward Trump and the city’s future without her at the helm managing that relationship, Bowser said that she’s “putting the district in the best possible place,” and argued that the political pressures on the president may be different in the future than they were at the beginning of his term.
Bowser has also been focused in recent years both on shepherding the city out of the pandemic, which dealt myriad blows to the city’s economy and left many downtown businesses hollowed out as more and more residents worked from home. In her final year, Bowser said she’ll focus on growing the city’s economy.
“I’ve spent a good part of this year talking about our growth agenda. We have to respond to the shifts in the federal workforce and the changes in the federal government, and I believe firmly that the way to do that is to grow,” she said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
