Rini Sampath (age 31) is a cybersecurity company director who was born in Theni, India, immigrated to the United States at age seven, and has lived in the U Street neighborhood for over a decade. At the University of Southern California she was elected Student Body President as part of the first all-women ticket. She has since worked as a federal contractor improving government programs and citizen services, as a field organizer, and managing higher education nonprofit programs. Her campaign launched after the February 2026 snowstorm exposed what she called a failure of basic city services — neighbors stranded, people with disabilities unable to leave their homes, workers losing income. She did not qualify for DC's public financing program and ran without special interest backing. To demonstrate her governing philosophy, her team built three civic tech prototypes before election day: "DC Fix It" (a redesigned 311 app with geolocated reporting, neighbor request visibility, and request tracking), a public budget transparency dashboard, and a Small Business Permitting Concierge to help entrepreneurs navigate DC's licensing and permit process. Her platform covers five areas. On housing: set a production goal exceeding the prior 36,000-unit benchmark, eliminate parking minimums near transit, crack down on predatory rental fees, protect the Housing Production Trust Fund. On public safety: address MPD's $75M+ overtime problem through staffing stabilization; full operational review of the public safety ecosystem; evidence-based violence interruption programs; expand Late Night Hype and MBSYEP. On education: target the 40% chronic absenteeism rate through interagency coordination (DCPS, OSSE, health providers, family outreach); make early literacy a top priority (only 26% of DC 4th graders read proficiently); expand afterschool seats in Wards 7 and 8; revive the DC Youth Advisory Council as a paid leadership program. On statehood: build DC statehood into a national Democratic priority; no data sharing between MPD and ICE; full audit of DC government contacts with federal enforcement. On transportation: refocus Vision Zero on execution with a public project dashboard; bus priority and protected bike lanes where appropriate; better repair tracking.
በጉዳዮች ላይ ያሉ አቋሞች
ሁሉም አቋሞች በቀጥታ ከዕጩው የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ ቁሳቁሶች፣ ከይፋዊ የመጠይቅ ምላሾች ወይም ከተረጋገጠ የዜና ዘገባ የተገኙ ናቸው። አቋሞች ከበጽኑ ይቃወማል (−2) እስከ በጽኑ ይደግፋል (+2) ባለው ሚዛን ይመዘናሉ። ያልታወቀ አቋም ማለት ምንም ይፋዊ አቋም አልተገኘም ማለት ነው።
ዲሲ ተጨማሪ የተጠበቁ የብስክሌት መንገዶችን እና ለአውቶቡስ የተወሰኑ መንገዶችን (bus lanes) መገንባት አለባት።
Transportation platform supports bus priority, transit signal priority, protected bike lanes 'where appropriate,' and better bus lanes with enforcement of blocked bus zones. The qualifier 'where appropriate' reflects geographic judgment; overall stance is clearly supportive. In the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate lightning round she answered 'yes' to both bus lanes and bike lanes (and 'no' to speed cameras).
ምንጮች፦ [Policy Platform — Rini Sampath for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ የተደጎመ የህፃናት እንክብካቤን ወደ ሁሉን አቀፍ ፕሮግራም ማስፋት አለባት — ለሁሉም የዲሲ ነዋሪዎች ምንም ይሁን ገቢያቸው የሚገኝ — በPre-K ማሻሻያ እና ማስፋፊያ ፕሮግራም (PKEEP) ላይ በመገንባት።
Sampath favors loosening childcare regulations rather than expanding universal subsidy programs — an execution and deregulation approach contrasting with universal affordable childcare proposals.
ምንጮች፦ [These four candidates are also running for D.C. mayor — The 51st]
MPD በዲሲ ውስጥ በሚካሄዱ የኢሚግሬሽን ማስከበር ሥራዎች ላይ ICE ን ወይም ሌሎች የፌደራል ኤጀንሲዎችን መርዳት የለበትም።
Statehood platform explicitly states: 'There should be no data sharing between MPD and ICE, and no local resources used to facilitate fear-based enforcement actions that undermine community trust.' She also pledges a full audit of every point of contact between DC government and federal enforcement agencies.
ዲሲ የቤት ምርት መተማመኛ ፈንድን (Housing Production Trust Fund) በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ማሳደግ አለባት።
Platform explicitly states: 'I will protect the Housing Production Trust Fund and the Local Rent Supplement Program, while requiring better transparency on lease-up timelines and outcomes so public dollars lead to real housing placements.' Framing is protection and accountability rather than significant expansion.
ዲሲ ጥቃትን እንደ የሕዝብ ጤና ችግር ልትመለከተውና በጥቃት ማቋረጥ ፕሮግራሞች እና በማህበረሰብ-ተኮር መፍትሄዎች ላይ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ ኢንቨስት ማድረግ አለባት።
Public safety platform pledges to 'audit violence interruption programs to ensure they are evidence-based, accountable, and coordinated with schools, families, faith institutions, and community organizations.' Combines professional policing, evidence-based prevention, and youth opportunity without a purely enforcement frame. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate she proposed reinvesting MPD's '$75 million' in overtime into diversion programs, legal aid, and preventative programs so 'incarceration isn't the consistent option,' while praising groups like Peace for DC and flagging fraud (a contractor's $400,000 in personal spending) as the reason audits are needed.
ምንጮች፦ [Policy Platform — Rini Sampath for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ ለፓርኮች እና መዝናኛ ዲፓርትመንት የሚሰጠውን የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ማሳደግ አለባት፣ የተራዘመ የመዝናኛ ማዕከል ሰዓቶችን እና የተስፋፋ የወጣቶችና የአረጋውያን ፕሮግራምን ጨምሮ።
Platform pledges to strengthen after-school and evening programming including 'Late Night Hype' so young residents have 'structured, safe spaces during high-risk hours,' and to expand MBSYEP with stronger job matching and long-term outcome tracking. Supports parks/rec-type investment primarily through a youth safety and opportunity lens.
እያንዳንዱ የዲሲ የመንግሥት ትምህርት ቤት የተወሰነ የባህሪ ጤና ባለሙያ (behavioral health clinician) በሠራተኝነት ሊኖረው ይገባል።
Education platform identifies 'untreated mental health needs' as a key driver of the 40% chronic absenteeism rate and calls for connecting at-risk students to health providers through interagency coordination. Supports mental health support as part of wraparound services strategy, though does not specifically mandate a dedicated clinician in every school.
ዲሲ ትምህርት ቤቶች ከትምህርት ባሻገር የአእምሮ ጤና፣ የቤተሰብ ድጋፍ እና ሌሎች አገልግሎቶችን የሚሰጡ የሰፈር ማዕከላት የሚሆኑበትን 'የማህበረሰብ ትምህርት ቤቶች' (community schools) ሞዴል ማስፋት አለባት።
Education platform calls for 'bringing together DCPS, charter schools, WMATA, OSSE, health providers, and family outreach teams to identify at-risk students earlier and intervene faster' — a coordinated wraparound approach aligned with the community schools model, though the specific program is not named.
ዲሲ ነጠላ-ቤተሰብ-ብቻ የዞን ገደቦችን በማስወገድ አፓርትመንቶችን እና 'የጎደለ-መሃል' ቤትን (ድብል፣ ትሪፕል እና ትናንሽ ባለ-ብዙ ቤተሰብ ህንፃዎች) በመላ ከተማው ሕጋዊ ማድረግ አለባት።
Housing platform supports 'modernizing zoning, legalizing single-stair residential buildings up to eight stories where appropriate, and eliminating unnecessary parking minimums near transit' to reduce construction costs and create walkable, family-sized housing — supportive of density reform, with 'where appropriate' qualifiers. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate she argued DC should 'build more' while leasing units faster, rejecting the 'false narrative' that the city cannot both build more and protect renters.
ምንጮች፦ [Policy Platform — Rini Sampath for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ ለዲስትሪክት ቤተሰቦች ከልደት እስከ ሦስት ዓመት ድረስ ነፃ፣ ጥራት ያለው የህፃናት እንክብካቤ — ምንም የመጠባበቂያ ዝርዝር (waitlist) ሳይኖር — ዋስትና መስጠት አለባት።
Favors loosening childcare regulations to lower costs rather than a free, universal birth-to-three guarantee — an execution-and-deregulation approach that contrasts with candidates proposing publicly funded universal infant-toddler care.
ምንጮች፦ [These four candidates are also running for D.C. mayor — The 51st]
ዲሲ በትናንሽ እና በአካባቢ ንግዶች ላይ ግብርና ክፍያዎችን መቀነስ አለባት — እንደ የትንሽ ችርቻሮ ንብረት ግብር ቅናሽ ያለ እፎይታ መስጠትን ጨምሮ — እንዲከፈቱ፣ እንዲቀጥሉ እና እንዲያድጉ ለመርዳት።
Built a Small Business Permitting Concierge prototype and pledges to make DC 'the easiest city in America to start a business and keep it open,' cutting the bureaucracy, fees, and delays behind DC's nation-leading first-year business failure rate — focused on reducing red tape and fees more than cutting business taxes specifically. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate she said her team had just launched a small-business permitting concierge and called for supporting owners hurt by city actions (e.g., construction that kills storefront foot traffic).
ምንጮች፦ [Policy Platform — Rini Sampath for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ በከተማ አስተዳደር ላይ ለሚደረግ የትራምፕ አስተዳደር ጣልቃ ገብነት ጸጥ ካለ ዲፕሎማሲ ወይም ተግባራዊ ድርድር ይልቅ በቆራጥ፣ ይፋዊ አቋም — ክስ በመመስረት፣ የጥበቃ ሕጎችን በማጽደቅ እና ሕገ-ወጥ የፌደራል ትዕዛዞችን ለመፈጸም በመቃወም — ምላሽ መስጠት አለባት።
Pledges no data sharing between MPD and ICE and a full audit of every contact between DC government and federal enforcement agencies. Her stance on protecting DC residents is firm, but her execution-first philosophy emphasizes targeted defensive measures rather than a broadly confrontational political posture. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate she made statehood 'mission number one,' calling for a 'concerted campaign' with influencers and leaders to win over a Democratic Party she said does not yet truly back DC statehood — a persuasion strategy rather than a litigation/refusal posture.
ምንጮች፦ [Policy Platform — Rini Sampath for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ የዲስትሪክቱን የበጀት ክፍተት ለመዝጋት በትላልቅ ኮርፖሬሽኖች እና በሀብታም ነዋሪዎች ላይ ግብር ማሳደግ አለባት።
At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate Sampath said she opposes 'any kind of business activity tax that would effectively drive businesses away,' favoring closing the budget gap by cutting fraud, getting agencies to perform, pursuing the ~$180M the CFO holds from decoupling, and attracting business to grow tax revenue. A lean against raising business taxes; she focused on business activity taxes specifically rather than all taxes on the wealthy.
ምንጮች፦ [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ ራስ-ሰር የትራፊክ-ማስከበሪያ ካሜራ ፕሮግራሙን (የፍጥነት እና የቀይ-መብራት ካሜራዎች) ማስፋት አለባት።
In the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate lightning round, Sampath answered 'no to speed cameras.'
ምንጮች፦ [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
የዲስትሪክቱ የRFK ስታዲየም / Washington Commanders መልሶ ማልማት ስምምነት፣ በተዋቀረበት መልኩ፣ ለዲሲ ነዋሪዎች ጥሩ ኢንቨስትመንት ነው።
At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate Sampath faulted the RFK redevelopment because it 'never came with a true equity plan,' calling for that to be fixed. Critical of the deal as structured.
ምንጮች፦ [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
ዲሲ ካምፖችን በማፍረስ ላይ ከመተማመን ይልቅ ቤት አልባነትን ለመፍታት ቋሚ የድጋፍ መኖሪያ ቤትን እና 'Housing First' አገልግሎቶችን ማስፋት አለባት።
Sampath would preserve and strengthen the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Homelessness Prevention Program, and Project Reconnect to keep people housed, framing homelessness around prevention and supportive services rather than enforcement. Supportive of a services-first approach.
አጠቃላይ ምንጮች
- Mayoral election in Washington, D.C., 2026 — Ballotpedia (Candidate Connection survey) — ballotpedia.org. የተገኘበት ቀን 2026-05-27.
- These four candidates are also running for D.C. mayor — The 51st — The 51st. የተገኘበት ቀን 2026-05-28.
- Policy Platform — Rini Sampath for Mayor — Rini Sampath Campaign. የተገኘበት ቀን 2026-05-28.