District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Tuesday that she will not seek re-election in 2026, ending a 12-year run as the city’s chief executive and setting up an open race to lead the nation’s capital through a period of political tension and economic uncertainty.
Bowser, 52, told NBC-4 Washington that the decision was “the hardest thing I’ve had to do,” but said she believes she has accomplished the goals she set when she first won office in 2014.
“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,” Bowser said in the interview. “I’ve learned how to be really good at my job and to be a good mayor… 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.”
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In a post on X, Bowser called serving as mayor the “honor of my life,” adding that she was proud of her “legacy of success.” She has not announced future plans, but when asked whether she could have won a fourth term, she replied that she has “never lost an election.”
Navigating a fraught relationship with Trump
Bowser’s final year has been dominated by her evolving relationship with Donald Trump, whose administration has imposed sweeping federal job cuts and expanded law enforcement and immigration operations in Washington. The measures have disproportionately affected the region’s workforce and economy.
“We started this year with a new president who was an avowed critic of the district, and we had to reset that relationship,” Bowser said. “He clearly had a plan to move fast, and one of his targets was the district.”
The mayor has faced intense GOP criticism over her past friction with Trump, particularly her 2020 decision to designate Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House. Republicans pressed to strip the district of funding earlier this year, prompting Bowser’s administration to remove the plaza mural. She argued the city’s focus needed to be on “devastating impacts of the federal jobs cuts.”
Still, Bowser has attempted a pragmatic approach toward Trump’s second-term agenda, cooperating at times with federal enforcement efforts while resisting GOP threats to roll back D.C.’s home rule.
Asked about Washington’s future without her managing that volatile relationship, Bowser said she is “putting the district in the best possible place” and predicted the political dynamics surrounding Trump “may be different in the future.”
A focus on recovery and growth
Bowser’s tenure has also centered heavily on steering Washington out of the pandemic, which hollowed out downtown corridors as federal employees continued remote work. Revitalizing the city’s economy has been a key goal of her administration.
“I’ve spent a good part of this year talking about our growth agenda,” she said. “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.”
With Bowser stepping aside, the race to replace her is expected to draw multiple contenders from the city’s political establishment, setting up the district’s most competitive mayoral campaign in more than a decade.
