🏆 WINNER: Mayor Muriel Bowser
It may seem like a boring choice, but hear us out. From pushing to revitalize Downtown to resolving the Ted Leonsis spat, Bowser’s steady, centrist leadership style has been front and center in 2024 and has earned herself the City Cast 6 award in the politics category.
Earlier this year, when Ted Leonsis, the billionaire owner of the Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics announced he was moving the teams to Virginia, Bowser played the long game. She sat tight until Leonsis was forced to come crawling back because Gov. Glen Youngkin didn’t play his cards right with the Virginia legislature. Bowser turned what could have been a legacy-wounding loss into a defining career win when she announced the $515 million deal to keep the teams in D.C. until at least 2050. The ultimate told-you-so moment.
Her plans to turn Capital One Arena into a state-of-the-art urban arena will affect D.C. for years to come. If it goes according to plan, it will both mitigate Ted Leonsis’ power and bolster Chinatown generally. If it doesn’t, it’s another money pit for taxpayers. Regardless, her work will have major repercussions.
“It would have been a huge, huge loss if the teams left. She's shown that she's up for the fight. And I think she'll continue to do so when Trump comes to town,” said Washingtonian reporter and City Cast 6 panelist Anna Spiegel.
Mayor Bowser told us her biggest takeaway from the ordeal was to "not take no for an answer. Do what you think is best for D.C. until the door is absolutely closed shut."
Also on the sports front, the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources recently advanced legislation which would give D.C. long-term control of the RFK site, paving the way for the Commanders to return to the city. It also put Bowser one step further towards her career-defining goal of shaping RFK Campus into a hub of affordable housing, businesses, and recreation facilities.
Come January, President-Elect Trump is expected to bring big changes to D.C. He has promised to “take over our horribly run capital,” and gut federal programs.
Bowser has reached out to Trump asking for a meeting to discuss possible collaboration. "Last time, we tried to find common ground on issues that the federal government and D.C. share. That will be our approach this time as well," Bowser told us. It’s possible that her “boring,” middle-of-the-road style is going to be the city's best defense against whatever comes our way next year.
“The irony is that her centrist, non-activist style seems to be carrying the day right now as we're about to enter an era where she is going to be painted by Trump and the Republicans as the face of this, like, ‘80s style dystopian city,” said City Cast DC host Michael Schaffer.
Bowser is now in her third term as mayor, rivaling even the legacy of “mayor for life” Marion Barry. As for a fourth term, she’s said "I'm running until I'm not running.” But skeptics say the idea of sparring with Trump for another term might have her second guessing.
🥈 RUNNERS-UP:
Trayon White — Ward 8 Councilmember
Brooke Pinto — Ward 2 Councilmember
Matthew Graves — United States Attorney for D.C.
Ankit Jain — D.C. Shadow Senator
Our Selection Process:
To ensure the veracity of the awards, we chatted with dozens of field experts across D.C., conducted listener and reader polls, and did our own research to come up with nominations. Finally, we had a public vote to help our panel of experts — Washington Post's Michael Brice-Saddler, Axios' Anna Spiegel, and Greater Greater Washington’s Dan Reed — select the winners.
The City Cast 6 awards, sponsored by Christopher Nace and the trial lawyers at Paulson & Nace, honor D.C.’s standout visionaries across six distinct categories. Read about the other winners.
