LGBTQ voters in Washington D.C. are heading to the polls on June 16 for a competitive primary that offers multiple queer-supportive candidates and introduces ranked choice voting to the district for the first time.

A crowded race with two frontrunners

The D.C. Democratic mayoral primary features seven candidates, with polls showing a clear two-candidate race at the top. D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George leads with 36 percent support, while former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie trails at 25 percent. About a quarter of likely voters remain undecided, leaving room for shifts before Election Day. Other candidates in the race include cyber security consultant Rini Sampath, who identifies as queer and has campaigned on celebrating D.C.'s diversity, though she is polling at just 3 percent.

LGBTQ endorsements split between frontrunners

The Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city's largest LGBTQ political group, has endorsed Lewis George for mayor. GLAA DC also gave Lewis George its highest candidate rating of +10 based on his responses to a detailed questionnaire about LGBTQ issues. McDuffie, who expressed strong support for a wide range of LGBTQ issues in his own responses, did not initially receive a rating from GLAA because his campaign missed the questionnaire submission deadline due to the email landing in their spam folder. After discovering the error, McDuffie completed the questionnaire after the deadline had passed, and GLAA posted his full responses online alongside other candidates' answers. Real estate manager Gary Goodweather, a political newcomer, has also attended LGBTQ events and expressed strong support for queer issues, though he remains a long shot at 3 percent in polling.

Ranked choice voting changes the game

This year's D.C. primary marks the first use of ranked choice voting in the district, a system that lets voters select up to five candidates ranked by preference. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote in a race with three or more contenders, the system automatically conducts an instant runoff, eliminating the lowest-polling candidate and counting voters' second choices until someone reaches the majority threshold. That feature could play a significant role in a close race, potentially benefiting candidates with strong second-choice support among undecided voters.

Source: Washington Blade

Cover photo: Edmond Dantès / Pexels

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LGBTQ voters navigate D.C. primary with ranked choice voting