D.C. mayoral hopeful bought $1.19M home after zoning critique

Janeese Lewis George, the democratic socialist District councilmember running for mayor of Washington, purchased a $1.19 million single-family home in April — just 15 days after publishing an op-ed arguing that exclusionary zoning perpetuates segregation and drives displacement across the nation’s capital.

Ms. Lewis George and her husband, Kyle George, closed on the Tudor-style property in the Manor Park neighborhood on April 17, according to DC Office of Tax and Revenue records. The purchase price was nearly double the average home value in the District and roughly $500,000 above the median for that zip code, according to Redfin.

The 3,122-square-foot house, built in 1935 and renovated in 2023, features four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a chef’s kitchen with a waterfall island, vaulted ceilings, a finished basement and a sauna, per a real estate listing. The property sits in a residential zone the city classifies as discouraging multi-household development — the very type of zoning restriction Ms. Lewis George has made a centerpiece of her campaign against.

Fifteen days before the closing, she wrote in Greater Greater Washington that her family had been forced out of their rented Kennedy Street home in 2010 when rent hikes made staying impossible.

“The rent hikes that my family experienced in 2010 might not have been so drastic if single-family zoning in the District’s most affluent neighborhoods hadn’t long-prevented more homes from being built in them,” she wrote.

Her “Home For All” campaign plan pledges to reform zoning laws to produce as many as 72,000 new dwellings — predominantly multi-family units — over five years.

Her opponent in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, former councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, has put forward a more modest proposal to build 12,000 new housing units and preserve 20,000 existing affordable units over four years. Former D.C. mayors have lined up behind Mr. McDuffie’s candidacy.

Despite the home purchase controversy, Ms. Lewis George leads Mr. McDuffie by 11 percentage points among likely primary voters — 36% to 25% — with remaining candidates in the low single digits, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.

The campaign has drawn interest from national labor leaders as potential brokers of an endorsement from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, according to the New York Post, which first reported the home purchase. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFSCME President Lee Saunders have been working to arrange a public endorsement appearance in Washington, three Democratic sources familiar with the discussions told the Post. 

Ms. Lewis George’s campaign faced additional turbulence Friday when the DC Office of Campaign Finance fined her campaign $16,000 for allegedly exceeding spending limits, accepting contributions above legal caps, and making expenditures for prohibited purposes. The campaign called the order “riddled with factual errors” and said it would appeal.