D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is Not Running for Reelection

By: Miriam Edelman

On November 25, 2025, D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she will not run for reelection in 2026. Bowser, who is 53 years old, has been a popular D.C. Mayor, having an average higher approval rating (57 percent) than all of D.C.’s recent Mayors except for Anthony Williams (65 percent). As a D.C. official, Bowser does not face term limits.

On November 25^th on X, Bowser wrote:

“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.

With a grateful heart, I am announcing that I will not seek a fourth term.

For the next 12 months, let's run through the tape and keep winning for DC.”

She also posted a video that mentioned D.C. statehood.

A letter that she posted to X on the same day said:

“Now, looking to the future, I know we’ve laid the groundwork for others to build upon, to reshape and grow DC’s economy, establish DC as the 51^st state, and protect our investments in affordable housing, transportation, public safety, and public schools. And to build a world class stadium, recreation, and parks at RFK.”

Bowser said, “I’m not running because we we’ve accomplished what we set out to accomplish.” She added, “[a]nd it’s time.”

In 1972, Bowser, “a fifth-generation Washingtonian,” was raised in North Michigan Park in Ward 5, the youngest of five children. After earning an undergraduate degree at Chatham University in Pennsylvania, she earned a master degree from American University. Her father, who served on an Advisory Neighborhood Commission, inspired Bowser to be a politician.

Bowser has never lost an election and has served in elected office in D.C. for over 20 years. After serving as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, she was a D.C. Council Member. She replaced her mentor Adrian Fenty, who was elected Mayor, on the D.C. Council. Then, in 2014, at age 42, she was elected to be D.C.’s seventh Mayor since and D.C.’s second female Mayor since D.C. received limited home rule.

Bowser was reelected Mayor two times. In 2018, she was the first female to be elected for second term as Mayor. In 2022, Bowser became “the first African American woman to ever be elected to three, four-year terms as mayor of an American city.” She is D.C.’s second Mayor to be Mayor for three consecutive terms.

Bowser’s role as D.C. Mayor is unique among all Mayors in the U.S. As Bowser said:

“As mayor, I have regular city functions that I perform, but I have things that I'm responsible for that no other mayor in America is responsible for. I'm the mayor, the county executive, and the governor for Washington, D.C.”

In 2018, Bowser adopted her daughter, Miranda. Bowser is the first and only single mother to be Mayor of D.C.

Bowser wants to advance women. She wrote in 2017:

“Today, three of my five deputy mayors and more than half of the appointees in my administration are women. I am intentional about ensuring women serve in top leadership positions because I know that women are capable of moving big ideas forward and because I want to be part of creating a world in which women in charge are the norm, not the exception.”

“So know that you have something to offer your community. Women of color—and all women—in politics are more frequently criticized, we are more harshly criticized, and we are more wrongly criticized, but our democracy and our communities are stronger when our voices are heard and our perspectives and experiences accounted for. The impact you have will be greater than the hurdles you overcome.”

In 2017, the national National Organization for Women appreciated Bowser’s “proposal for new initiatives to find missing children and support organizations that assist at-risk teens.” Here were missing African-American and Hispanic girls in the nation’s capital.

Bowser has been a strong leader for D.C. statehood. DCNOW’s blog’s piece, entitled “Mayor Muriel Bowser and Advocates Call for D.C. Statehood at Democratic National Conventions,” discussed Bowser’s leadership. Her biography says:

“Since taking office, Muriel has moved Washington, DC closer to statehood than ever before. Twice testifying before the House of Representatives and once before the Senate, Muriel has made the case that DC statehood is not only constitutional, but the only way to right the historic wrong of disenfranchising 700,000 Americans. Because of Muriel’s relentless pursuit of full democracy, more Americans nationwide understand that DC statehood is a voting rights issues, a civil rights issue, and a racial justice issue.”

Bowser thinks that she’ll be remembered as a “sports mayor.” She was instrumental in keeping the Washington Capitals and Wizards in the nation’s capital and returning the Washington Commanders to D.C. She is helping transform the old RFK Stadium site into a sports stadium, housing, retail and more adjacent to the Anacostia River. The Washington Post described this work as, “the largest public-private development deal in the city’s history and a legacy achievement for the mayor.”

Bowser has been a “centrist.”  In just 2025, to offset a deficit in D.C.’s budget, Bowser’s budget proposed $63 million cuts that targeted libraries, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and programs for youth. The D.C. Council prevented those cuts.

As Mayor, Bowser has faced enormous challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic, racial justice protests in 2020; the January 6, 2021, insurrection; and an extreme amount of interference from the federal government. Recently, the Washington Post described D.C. going through “some of the most serious threats to the district’s autonomy in decades.” Newsweek reported that Bowser’s “final year in office has been dominated by an unprecedented level of federal intervention in local affairs.”

Let’s make Bowser proud by finally making D.C. the 51^st state. As Bowser wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post during the midst of race-related protests in June 2020:

“For every American who has watched in disbelief and disgust, I ask you to join us in our fight for statehood. This is a problem Congress can fix. Help us elect a Congress that believes in democracy. Help us elect a president who won’t occupy our city or any city. Help us push, more unified than ever before, for the District to become the 51st state.”

D.C. statehood affects everyone, not just D.C. residents. In a statement on January 6, 2021, she said:

“Washingtonians have waited over 200 years for the representation we deserve as American citizens. And it is not just the residents of DC who bear the burden of our disenfranchisement. To paraphrase Dr. King: when any American is denied democracy, our entire nation is denied those voices and votes.”