Janeese Lewis George (born April 30, 1988) is an American lawyer, politician, and activist in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

She is the Member of the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...

from Ward 4. George is a member of the Democratic Party. Elected in November 2020, George became the first self-described

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

to serve as a member of the Council since

Hilda Mason Hilda Mason (June 14, 1916 – December 16, 2007) was an American politician and statehood advocate in Washington, D.C. Mason was a member of the D.C. Statehood Green Party and served as an at-large member of the Council of the District of C ...

was defeated for re-election in 1998.

Early life and education

George was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of a postal worker, and attended the School Without Walls in the

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, located in the city's northwest quadrant. It stretches west of the White House towards the Potomac River, north of the National Mall, east of Georgetown, south of the West ...

neighborhood. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and government from St. John's University. She earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

, working as a waitress to pay her tuition.

Career

After graduating from law school, George worked as a prosecutor in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

In 2014, she returned to D.C. to care for her ailing father and served in the office of

Attorney General of the District of Columbia The attorney general for the District of Columbia is the chief legal officer of the District of Columbia. While attorneys general previously were appointed by the mayor, District of Columbia voters approved a charter amendment in 2010 that m ...

Karl Racine Karl Anthony Racine (born December 14, 1962) is a Haitian-American lawyer and politician. He was the first independently elected Attorney General for the District of Columbia, a position he held from 2015 to 2023. Before that, he was the managi ...

. George was a member of the

American Federation of Government Employees The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is an American labor union representing over 750,000 employees of the federal government, about 5,000 employees of the District of Columbia, and a few hundred private sector employees, mostly ...

Local 1403 while working at the Attorney General's office. As a juvenile prosecutor in DC, she used experiences from losing peers to violence during her upbringing to help her colleagues. Before launching her campaign for the Council, George worked for the

District of Columbia State Board of Education The District of Columbia State Board of Education (SBOE) is an independent executive branch agency of the Government of the District of Columbia, in the United States. The SBOE provides advocacy and policy guidance for the District of Columbia Pu ...

2020 campaign

In 2019, George launched her campaign for the

. George was the subject of attack ads by Democrats for Education Reform, an advocacy group that supports charter schools, over claims that she would defund the police. She was endorsed by a significant number of progressive groups, including

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

, the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois ...

and the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...

. George was the first candidate to reach the limit in matching funds through the District's public financing program since it was initiated. The program provides matching funds but limits donations to $50 per supporter, of which she had almost 1,200 by March 2020. On June 2, she defeated incumbent Brandon Todd by an 11.7-point margin. She was elected to the

in November 2020.

Personal life

George is married to Kyle George, who she met at a high school graduation party.

Electoral history

References

External links

Official campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Janeese Lewis 1988 births 21st-century Washington, D.C., politicians African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics American community activists Howard University alumni Living people Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Washington, D.C. 21st-century people from Washington, D.C. Progressivism in the United States Washington, D.C., Democrats 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people