DC needs leaders who will represent all of us, and who are accountable to the whole community. That’s why we vote, and why we take seriously Rabbi Yitzchak’s teaching that community input is essential for choosing who will lead our city.

And it’s why the JUFJ Campaign Fund was founded ten years ago — to help elect leaders who will fight for our Jewish values, to advocate for issues that matter to the whole DC community, and to hold our representatives to the commitments they make.

DC deserves a Mayor who will fight for our communities and our Jewish values. Janeese Lewis George will be that Mayor.

Since before she first ran for the DC Council, Janeese Lewis George has been the kind of leader that every community should have in office. She is dedicated to making real change in the District, from fighting to defend and expand paid family and medical leave to proposing innovative plans for more and better housing to cosponsoring a transformative tax increase that raised the pay of thousands of early childhood educators. 

But she is not only a principled policy expert. Councilmember Lewis George has been out in the streets, meeting with constituents where they live, and speaking out against the federal government’s takeover of our city. She has worked to make the streets safer around our schools, to ensure that public trash cans remain available, and to keep people in their homes when they are facing eviction and homelessness.

And now, Janeese Lewis George is running for Mayor. We are proud to endorse her, and to get to work to help her win.

DC’s delegate in Congress is a critical voice for our local autonomy, and the District needs someone who will speak out for our residents. Robert White worked for five years for retiring Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, before serving nearly a decade as an At-Large DC Councilmember. He has the experience of both local and federal government that this position requires, and he understands how to use both the megaphone and the legislative process to defend the city against federal overreach like the Trump takeover of our police, the invasion of DC by ICE and National Guardsmen, and the overturning of our laws by Congress and the President.

Brian Schwalb has been a tremendous force for justice during his first term as Attorney General. His office has won cases against slumlords who don’t maintain safe housing for the people who rent from them. He has won millions of dollars in settlements from employers who steal the wages of their employees. Schwalb has been a vocal opponent of the Trump takeover of DC, and has backed up his voice with lawsuits and other legal actions to protect home rule.

Because DC voters passed Initiative 83, making our elections more fair by implementing ranked choice voting, this is the JUFJ Campaign Fund’s first ever ranked choice endorsement!

All three of these candidates would bring critical experience to the Council. Oye Owolewa has a track record of fighting for DC statehood as our current Shadow Representative, and he has also used that megaphone to speak out about critical programs that support all DC residents — renters, working families, immigrants, and everyone else who is under attack by the Trump administration. Dyana Forester is a past President of the Metro Washington Council of the AFL-CIO and worked on the political affairs team at Local 400 (the grocery store workers union); she has been a steadfast partner on winning and implementing paid family and medical leave for DC. Candace Tiana Nelson has years of experience working in DC government, both as a Council staffer and an employee of the executive branch, and she can bring that experience to bear as a Councilmember to advocate for policies that will make a real difference in DC residents’ lives.

We are ranking Oye Owolewa first because of his demonstrated record in a citywide elected office, and we are recommending you also rank both Candace Tiana Nelson and Dyana Forester on your ballot. Voters in the Democratic primary can rank up to five candidates in this race, but we are not endorsing any additional candidates and we recommend you rank only these three choices.

Because DC voters passed Initiative 83, making our elections more fair by implementing ranked choice voting, this is the JUFJ Campaign Fund’s first ever dual endorsement!

These two women, of all of the many candidates running to succeed outgoing Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, have the clearest track record of standing up for the people. In different ways, they both have fought for everyone in DC to have safe, affordable housing and what they need to live and thrive. As a frequent JUFJ Campaign Fund coalition partner, Aparna Raj has been part of fights for higher wages for tipped workers, electing Janeese Lewis George to the DC Council, protections for renters, and much more. As a staffer in the DC government and an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, Rashida Brown has been key to government investments in early childhood education and in affordable housing projects being developed in Ward 1.

While each of these candidates would bring a different set of skills and priorities to the Council, both of them have records that demonstrate their alignment with the JUFJ Campaign Fund’s values and our shared goal of a DC where everyone’s needs are met and everyone can live a good life.

Councilmember Zachary Parker has been a consistent champion on the council for economic justice and fairer taxation. He has led on efforts to increase taxes on the wealthiest residents and businesses in order to pay for vital services like food assistance and housing vouchers. He uses his position to advocate for all DC kids, including pushing for an expanded child tax credit, and chairing the Council’s committee on youth issues.

Councilmember Charles Allen has often been an ally to JUFJ and our coalition partners, especially in promoting commonsense approaches to public safety. He is outspoken in favor of DC autonomy and government transparency. He has been a key ally in fights for tax justice, ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share and using that revenue to support the Pay Equity Fund, Earned Income Tax Credit and more. He was one of the first opponents of the proposal to give billions away to the Commanders with no public accountability, and was critical in ensuring the deal we ended up with prioritized housing, transit and good union jobs.

DC Staff

Paid for by JUFJ Campaign Fund, PO Box 41485, Washington, DC 20018. Joe Sandler, Treasurer