As political debates go, the showdown Monday night between Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and her three challengers for the Democratic nomination for D.C. mayor was mostly free of fireworks.
No one raised their voice at the debate, which was held virtually, and the jabs were policy-focused, not personal. For 90 minutes, the candidates addressed substantive issues including education inequity, the lack of affordable housing, surging crime and violence, and the city’s emergence from more than two years of pandemic pain.
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But there were several contentious and illuminating moments during the debate, which was hosted by the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance and moderated by Washington Post reporters Michael Brice-Saddler and Julie Zauzmer Weil.
D.C. Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) attacked Bowser’s record on education, pointing out that a vast learning gap remains for many of the city’s students.
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“The mayor is trying to convince us that we only have two options on education: the system 15 years ago that was failing students or the system now that is failing students,” he said. “As the father of two Black girls, looking at a system where 60 percent of Black and Brown students are behind grade level, I’m hearing the mayor saying that we are doing good enough, and I am insisting to you that we are not.”
Bowser, who is seeking a third term, responded that she would never say the city is doing “good enough,” but she took a shot at White, who has said the schools superintendent position should be independent and not under control of the mayor.
“What we are not going to do is have a mayor who waffles when it comes to how we are going to lead our schools,” Bowser said. “You should not even be strongly considered for this job if you don’t want the responsibility of leading our schools.”
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“I want the responsibility, Mayor, but I also want the accountability,” White replied.
The Democratic primary — in which residents will choose among Bowser, White, council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) and former advisory neighborhood commissioner James Butler for the mayoral nomination — will be held June 21, but registered Democrats in the District can begin voting this week by mail, by drop box or in person.
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Robert White has raised $1.4 million in the mayoral race, second to Bowser’s nearly $3.7 million. Trayon White’s most recent report, filed in April, showed he has raised just over $50,000. As of March 10, Butler — the only Democratic mayoral candidate who is not participating in the city’s public campaign finance program — had raised $2,843.
Robert White also criticized Bowser’s efforts to create more affordable housing in the city.
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“I think the mayor has a different definition of affordable housing than the rest of us,” he said. “That is the only way I can comprehend why she thinks we’re doing such a good job when nobody I meet in this city thinks that we are.”
The other candidates jumped on the housing issue, too. Trayon White said he had made significant efforts to address the problem on the council.
“First we have to acknowledge that we are in a serious housing crisis in D.C.,” he said. “I rewrote the law to make the Housing Production Trust Fund more affordable for lower-income residents.”
It “has become a slush fund for developers in D.C.,” he said, “and when they build, we only find a few units in the development project for affordable housing.”
Butler, a disbarred lawyer who now helps residents with civil matters in front of city boards, said he would rewrite the laws to allow for rent control on properties built after 1976 and change the formula determining how affordable housing is calculated to make it more attainable for lower-income District residents.
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In the most charged exchange of the evening, Robert White asked Bowser whether she would promise — if she were reelected — that there would be no consequences for any businesses with city contracts that had donated to the campaigns of her opponents.
“What you’re going to get with me,” Bowser responded, “is to follow all of the rules and to work with all of the D.C. residents who have contributed to my campaign and the thousands who have not.”
Unsatisfied with her answer, Robert White repeated his question.
“I haven’t been elected mayor two times in the District of Columbia, I wasn’t elected three times as the Ward 4 council member, I wasn’t elected two times as an advisory neighborhood commissioner because I go around threatening people,” Bowser said with a smile.
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Violent crime and what to do about it was another area of contention among the candidates.
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Last month, Robert White announced a $1.5 billion jobs plan. The goal, he said then, was to provide dignified jobs that would offer security and deter people from violence. When he first announced the plan, White said the government would hire 10,000 people, but since then he has said that it would call for 10,000 total jobs, including nongovernment positions.
Bowser criticized Robert White for voting to remove police officers from city schools.
“You have to have a mayor who’s willing to make tough calls and not just go along with trendy words of the day,” she said. “What we’ve heard from the principals is that having an officer that they know and they can rely on is the public safety official that they need.”
Robert White said the council acted in response to requests from students to phase out police over time. “What we need is a mayor who is going to take seriously the requests of our students,” he said. “We’re not talking about removing safety. We’re talking about adding safety measures that actually work.”
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Trayon White said he voted against removing police from schools because schools have become more dangerous.
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“We’ve seen violence in D.C. that we haven’t seen in D.C. in 20 years, and as a result, it’s spilling into the school,” he said. But he also pushed for more wraparound services, counseling and reliance on violence interrupters for schools, rather than just relying on police to combat the violence.
Butler repeatedly raised crime as the most pressing issue the city is facing and said he would hire more police officers. He criticized Robert White as a “defund-the-police Democrat” and said, “With our current mayor, you have gotten crime at nearly a 20-year high.”
In response to questions submitted by viewers, Bowser, Trayon White and Butler said they would welcome the return of the Washington Commanders and a new stadium at the RFK Stadium site. All three said they would not pay for building a new stadium but would make land available.
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Robert White said he would not support an effort to return the team to the District.
“The best use for that land is not a professional football stadium for teams that play eight home games a year,” he said.
Asked about extending the streetcar to downtown D.C., three of the candidates said they would support that plan. Trayon White said he wanted studies to see whether enough people actually used the streetcar to justify expanding its service and length.
In their closing arguments, the candidates made final pitches emphasizing the reasons they would be best suited to run the city. Butler said he would focus on plans to address crime. Trayon White said he would work for all of the citizens of the District, something he said is not being done.
Bowser spoke about navigating the city through the pandemic and through the social unrest of the past several years, pointing to her representation of D.C. nationally and her creation of Black Lives Matter Plaza on 16th Street NW.
Robert White said he would stand up to developers and focus on improving schools for everyone and making the city affordable. “The mayor is out of touch,” he said. “You have heard no sense of urgency tonight on any of the issues, and that is what we would expect from a third term.”