District voters head to the polls Tuesday, June 16, with mayoral, congressional, attorney general, and multiple council races on the ballot—setting up what organizers call the biggest shift in D.C. politics in decades.
By 7 a.m. Tuesday, D.C. voters will be deciding the shape of the city’s leadership for years to come. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m., and the election cycle is framed as the biggest shake-up in D.C. politics in decades.
This primary election is not just another set of contests. For the first time in 12 years, voters will choose a new mayor. They will also pick a new delegate to Congress after Eleanor Holmes Norton’s 36-year run. On the ballot as well are an attorney general seat and several new council members.
The mayoral race is set in a way that changes the day’s energy immediately: the Republican Party did not field a candidate for mayor. Robert Gross is running uncontested as a candidate of the D.C. Statehood Green Party.
Another major race carries the same “uncontested” structure. For delegate to the House of Representatives, Kymone Freeman is running uncontested as a candidate of the Statehood Green Party, after Norton’s long tenure ends.
Council races are also central to what voters will be weighing Tuesday. In the Democratic primary for full term, Matt Frumin is running uncontested in Ward 3 as a candidate of the Democratic Party.
The ward-by-ward landscape shifts again in Wards 1, 5, and 6, where different uncontested candidates have been filed. Jude Crannitch is running uncontested in Ward 1 for the Statehood Green Party, and Joyce Robinson-Paul is running uncontested in Ward 5 for the Statehood Green Party.
For attorney general, the ballot includes a special election for an at-large council member.
In a race cycle defined by firsts and long transitions—new mayor after 12 years. new delegate after 36 years—the structure of who is on the ballot will matter as much as where voters show up. With multiple key contests running uncontested. Tuesday’s participation takes on a sharper meaning: it’s not only about choosing among competitors. but about turning the page in a political system that has largely been defined by continuity.
D.C. election officials will release results as they come in, and voters can follow live updates online, on air at 103.5 FM, or through the WTOP News app.
D.C. primary election 2026 mayor delegate to Congress attorney general council members Robert Gross Kymone Freeman Eleanor Holmes Norton Jude Crannitch Joyce Robinson-Paul Matt Frumin
Wait so the GOP didn’t even run a mayor?? That’s wild.
Uncontested races are kinda pointless though like how is that a “big shift” if nobody’s really competing. Also Eleanor Holmes Norton retiring after 36 years sounds like the only real change.
Hold on, I read on TikTok that Norton got removed not retiring? Now it’s “after 36-year run ends” so which one is it. And Robert Gross uncontested?? I guess D.C. just votes for whoever’s filed first.
Polls open at 7 and close at 8, cool cool. But if all these Green Party people are uncontested in multiple wards then how do Democrats even matter this cycle? Idk I’m not saying it’s rigged, I’m just saying it feels like a done deal already.