At Ward 7 Debate, Kenyan McDuffie refuses to return money from Trump donors

Janeese Lewis George shares her vision on how to make DC safer and more affordable, while Kenyan McDuffie lies about her record.

Today, at the Ward 7 Democratic mayoral debate moderated by WUSA9, Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George asked her opponent, former Independent At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, if he plans to return donations from big donors who helped get Donald Trump elected.

McDuffie declined to say whether he would return dollars from big Trump donors. Just this year, McDuffie has had 17 donors who have given a total of $85,205 to Trump political committees. Of particular concern is David Carmen of the Carmen Group, who contributed $37,700 to Trump committees and $200 to McDuffie. Carmen also served as a fundraiser for McDuffie’s 2022 campaign for the DC Council.

At the debate, Lewis George explained detailed plans for how she would lower the cost of housing, utilities, and childcare. Detailed policies can be found on the campaign website. 

Throughout the debate, McDuffie lied about her record. 

Here are the facts: 

FALSE: McDuffie says Lewis George wants to divest from the Metropolitan Police Department. 

TRUTH: Lewis George has voted to increase the local police budget as a councilmember and supports investing in the Metropolitan Police Department as mayor. The safety of every resident is non-negotiable for Lewis George, who has a comprehensive plan for public safety that addresses prevention, intervention, and enforcement. As mayor, she will address MPD’s vacancy and retention crisis by expanding the police cadet program, reducing forced overtime, renovating aging facilities, and providing child care benefits that make the District competitive with other local and federal police departments.

FALSE: McDuffie falsely claimed Lewis George wants to raise taxes. 

TRUTH: Lewis George does not support new taxes on DC’s working people, middle-class families or locally-owned small businesses. She supports closing business tax loopholes that favor Maryland and Virginia at the expense of DC. Maryland and Virginia residents with DC-based businesses must pay their fair share of tax to DC, just as DC residents do. 

FALSE: McDuffie says Lewis George is funded by utility lobbyists. 

TRUTH: Lewis George is not supported by Pepco. Her mayoral campaign has received zero donations from any employees of Pepco, Washington Gas, or Exelon. Her support comes from working people, including the 21 labor unions who endorsed her and Sierra Club. McDuffie, meanwhile, was in charge of overseeing Pepco for 8 years and failed. Under his watch Pepco rates skyrocketed and he took thousands of dollars from Pepco and Washington Gas executives, staffers, and lobbyists. As Sierra Club said: “As chair of the DC Council committee with oversight of utility regulation, McDuffie helped Pepco kill a key energy affordability measure, worked with Washington Gas to try to gut legislation to reduce energy use in DC government buildings, and provided no meaningful oversight while DC’s electric rates skyrocketed twice as much nearby states.”