Washington, D.C., is a political division coterminous with the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States. The enactment of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act in 1973 provided for an elected mayor for the first time in nearly a century. Starting in 1974, there have been thirteen elections for mayor and six people have held the office. The Democratic Party has immense political strength in the district. In each of the mayoral elections, the district has solidly voted for the Democratic candidate, with no margin less than 14 percentage points.
The mayor serves a four-year term.Code of the District of Columbia § 1–204.21. In 1994, residents approved a ballot measure limiting the mayor to two consecutive terms, despite simultaneously electing Marion Barry to his fourth term. In 2001, the D.C. Council repealed the measure, abolishing term limits for all elected positions.
Mayoral elections Key for parties
+ Year Winner Runner-up Other candidate Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % 1974 84,676 80.50% 7,514 7.14% 3,703 3.52% 1978 68,354 70.16% 27,366 28.09% 1,066 1.09% 1982 95,007 80.99% 16,501 14.07% 2,673 2.28% 1986 79,142 61.37% 42,354 32.84% 3,518 2.73% 1990 140,011 86.12% 18,653 11.47% 1,116 0.69% 1994 102,884 56.02% 76,902 41.87% colspan="2" style="text-align:left; border-left:3px solid darkgray;" 1998 92,504 66.16% 42,280 30.24% 2,312 1.65% 2002 79,841 60.61% 45,407 34.47% 3,240 2.46% 2006 106,848 88.58% 7,517 6.23% 4,914 4.07% 2010 97,978 74.2% Write-ins 29,599 22.42% 2,279 1.73% 2014 96,666 55.15% 61,388 35.02% 12,327 7.03% 2018 171,608 76.39% 20,950 9.33% 15,478 6.89% 2022 147,433 74.62% 29,531 14.95% 11,510 5.83%
Graph The following graph shows the margin of victory of the Democratic Party over the runner-up in the 13 mayoral elections Washington, D.C., has held.
See also Elections in Washington, D.C. Electoral history of Marion Barry
Notes
References