Gary Goodweather
Mayoral Election — Democratic Primary, June 16, 2026
Participating in DC Fair Elections Program ✓Gary Goodweather (age 51) is a U.S. Army veteran who attained the rank of Captain before receiving an honorable discharge in 2004. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Bucknell University and an MBA in Finance from Johns Hopkins University. With over 30 years of experience in business and organizational management, he has worked with DC government agencies and the legislative branch. His platform is organized around four signature initiatives: - Fare-Free DC: eliminating Metrobus and Metrorail fares for DC residents, saving regular riders ~$1,000/year - Power DC: solar on public buildings, community solar bill credits, geothermal and sewer heat recovery to lower utility bills - Rat Free DC: rodent-proof trash containers, dry ice burrow treatment, increased trash collection, and a community Rat Block Captain program - Capital Corps: a structured civic service program connecting residents to training, mentorship, and careers in healthcare, education, tech, and public safety; includes a Youth Track with after-school programs and a dedicated mental health clinician and nurse in every school He supports social housing and community land trusts for permanent affordability, and a strong Home Rule / sanctuary stance: DC agencies would be prohibited from cooperating with immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant, and schools, hospitals, and houses of worship would be designated protected spaces.
Endorsements (2)
Advocacy & community organizations
- DMV New Liberals
- DC Voters for Animals
Positions on the issues
All positions are sourced directly from the candidate's campaign materials, official questionnaire responses, or verified news coverage. Stances are rated on a scale from Strongly opposes (−2) to Strongly supports (+2). A stance of Unknown means no public position has been found.
DC should build more protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes.
Proposes Fare-Free DC (eliminating Metrobus and Metrorail fares for DC residents) and calls for expanded transit access, biking and walking infrastructure, and EV transition as part of his Sustainability platform.
DC should treat violence as a public health problem, investing heavily in violence interruption programs and community-based solutions.
Supports 'community-based violence prevention and intervention programs that stop crime before it starts' and expanding mental health services to address root causes of trauma and violence alongside law enforcement investment. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate he tied crime to poverty and proposed a citywide civic corps, workforce development, and mental-health support — but added an accountability caveat, saying that 'if the metric is purely violence interruption … it's not working very well' and that as mayor he would cut ineffective programs and scale up effective ones.
Sources: [Issues — Gary Goodweather for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
Hiring significantly more MPD officers is a priority for reducing crime in DC.
Calls for rebuilding MPD by offering competitive compensation, comprehensive training including mental health crisis intervention, housing incentives, and property tax abatements to help officers live in the communities they serve. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate he made a fully staffed MPD his first public-safety step, contrasting roughly '3,100 officers today' with a fully staffed level of 'about 5,000' and arguing an understaffed department actually costs the city more.
Sources: [Issues — Gary Goodweather for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
DC should enforce a curfew for minors as a tool to reduce youth crime.
Does not oppose youth curfews per se, but is clear that they must be limited.
Any youth curfew must be paired with substantial investment in alternative programming — jobs, recreation centers, mental health services — for young people.
Underlines the need for youth programming and the need to tackle underlying causes, including poverty and lack of mental health services.
DC should guarantee free, high-quality child care from birth through age three — with no waitlists — for District families.
DC should adopt a social housing model — publicly owned, mixed-income housing.
Explicitly pledges to 'support permanently affordable housing through tools like community land trusts and social housing' as part of his housing platform.
MPD should not assist ICE or other federal agencies in immigration enforcement operations within DC.
Democracy platform explicitly pledges to 'strengthen sanctuary protections by prohibiting DC agencies from cooperating with immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant and preventing the use of local resources for federal immigration activities.' Schools, hospitals, and houses of worship designated as protected spaces.
DC should expand the 'community schools' model, where schools serve as neighborhood hubs providing mental health, family support, and other services beyond education.
Supports schools functioning as community hubs: after-school and summer programs, late-night rec centers staffed by mentors, a full-time nurse and mental health clinician in every school, and a Capital Corps Youth Track connecting education to workforce pathways.
Every DC public school should have a dedicated behavioral health clinician on staff.
Explicitly states: 'Every school will have a full time nurse and a mental health clinician so students receive the care they need to succeed.'
DC should aggressively accelerate its transition to 100% renewable energy, installing solar on public buildings and investing in geothermal and other clean sources.
Power DC is a signature platform initiative: expanding solar on public buildings, community solar programs with bill credits, geothermal energy, and sewer heat recovery to lower utility bills and reduce reliance on regional energy markets.
DC should increase funding for the Department of Parks and Recreation, including extended rec center hours and expanded youth and senior programming.
Calls for 'late night recreation centers staffed by mentors' and expanded after-school and summer programs with tutoring and enrichment. DPR investment is framed as a safety and opportunity initiative rather than a standalone parks platform.
DC should implement a comprehensive citywide rodent control program — including replacing standard trash containers with rodent-proof bins — to address the District's chronic rat infestation.
Rat Free DC is a signature platform initiative: shifting rodent control to DPW, requiring rodent-proof trash containers citywide, increasing trash collection frequency, scaling dry ice burrow treatment, improving data tracking, and launching a community Rat Block Captain program.
DC should respond to Trump administration interference in city governance with an assertive, public stance — filing lawsuits, passing protective legislation, and refusing to comply with unlawful federal directives — rather than quiet diplomacy or pragmatic deal-making.
Defend DC is a signature initiative — pledges to prohibit DC agencies from cooperating with immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant and designate schools, hospitals, and houses of worship as protected spaces. His platform is firm on protecting DC residents from federal overreach but frames it as defensive measures and fierce advocacy rather than explicitly confrontational political resistance. At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate his Congress answer leaned pragmatic — calling the federal government 'our partner,' warning that breaching DC's fiscal 'seven deadly sins' invites a control board, and arguing DC must build a 'confident local government' that is easy to do business with to attract the federal dollars it deserves.
Sources: [Defend DC — Gary Goodweather for Mayor], [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
DC should restore and strengthen TOPA (the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) to give tenants the right to purchase their building before it's sold to an outside buyer.
Goodweather's Affordable DC plan explicitly critiques TOPA, citing a DC Policy Center study showing 95% of TOPA transactions result in the building remaining a rental rather than producing tenant ownership. He also notes TOPA burdens small landlords with delays of up to 420 days. He proposes replacing TOPA with cooperative conversion programs, a DC Homebuilding Act, and tenant-to-owner collaboration partnerships.
Sources: [Affordable DC — Housing Strategy — Gary Goodweather for Mayor]
DC should significantly increase the Housing Production Trust Fund.
Goodweather supports maintaining and properly deploying the Housing Production Trust Fund but calls for a forensic audit in the first 100 days to examine how dollars have been allocated and which projects delivered. His 50,000-home / 36,000-affordable-unit target requires substantial ongoing HPTF investment, but he emphasizes accountability over simply increasing the fund.
Sources: [Affordable DC — Housing Strategy — Gary Goodweather for Mayor]
DC should expand subsidized childcare into a universal program — available to all DC residents regardless of income — building on the Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Program (PKEEP).
Goodweather pledges to defend the Pay Equity Fund for childcare workers and expand Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 seats. His Capital Corps includes an Early Childhood Development Corps branch supporting daycare centers and early learning hubs. His approach expands access and workforce capacity rather than framing childcare as a universal entitlement program.
DC should use all available legal tools — including litigation and public advocacy — to protect federal workers from mass terminations and defend federal agencies from relocation out of the District.
Goodweather's Defend DC plan explicitly lists 'Rapid-response economic support when federal workforce disruptions impact D.C.' His RISE Act includes a federal workforce transition pipeline into tech and AI-adjacent careers, and free AI retraining at libraries for displaced federal workers. He pledges to 'advocate fiercely for federal policies that mirror the RISE Act's protections.'
DC buses should be fare-free for all riders.
'Fare-Free DC' is one of his four signature initiatives: eliminating Metrobus and Metrorail fares for DC residents, which he says would save regular riders roughly $1,000 per year.
DC should expand rent stabilization to cover more housing, including buildings constructed after 1975.
In a Ward 3 tenant leaders' questionnaire, Goodweather said NO to restricting rent stabilization to only low-income renters ('If rent stabilization is in effect, it should apply to all') and YES to limiting voucher-supported rents to the stabilized maximum ('Landlords should only be allowed to receive the rent stabilized amount'). His answers affirm broad support for the existing rent stabilization system; he does not directly address expanding it to buildings constructed after 1975.
Sources: [Ward 3 primary voter guide — Forest Hills Connection]
DC should cut taxes and fees on small and local businesses — and offer relief such as the small retailer property tax credit — to help them open, survive, and grow.
At the April 30, 2026 Fair Elections Program mayoral debate Goodweather — a small business owner — answered 'yes' to providing more direct financial support to small businesses, pledging a venture fund that pairs startup capital with mentorship, and called to completely revamp DC's permitting and licensing process, saying the city treats business owners 'like villains' with penalties rather than support. Supportive of easing burdens on small businesses, via direct investment and red-tape reduction more than tax cuts specifically.
Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program mayoral debate (April 30, 2026)]
DC should act aggressively to lower residents' electricity bills — for example by contesting or rolling back Pepco rate increases through the Public Service Commission.
Goodweather's 'Power DC' plan opens by noting the average DC household's Pepco bill rose $31/month since 2023 and that the Public Service Commission approved $123 million in rate increases for 2025-2026. He would hold Pepco accountable for distribution charges and generate more local power to cut bills. Strongly supports aggressive action to lower electricity costs.
DC should directly intervene to eliminate food deserts — including by opening a publicly owned grocery store in underserved areas like east of the Anacostia.
Goodweather's platform makes reducing food deserts an explicit goal, emphasizing local food systems, fresh and affordable groceries, and locally grown produce in every neighborhood. Supports city intervention on food access, though framed around local food systems rather than a publicly owned grocery store specifically.
DC should overhaul the IMPACT teacher-evaluation system and make the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) independent of the mayor.
Goodweather would overhaul the IMPACT teacher-evaluation system with real teacher input and restore collective bargaining over evaluation criteria. He strongly backs the IMPACT-reform half of this question; he does not specifically address making OSSE independent of the mayor.
General sources
- Mayoral election in Washington, D.C., 2026 — Ballotpedia (Candidate Connection survey) — ballotpedia.org. Accessed 2026-05-27.
- Issues — Gary Goodweather for Mayor — Gary Goodweather Campaign. Accessed 2026-05-28.
- Policy & Plans — Gary Goodweather for Mayor — Gary Goodweather Campaign. Accessed 2026-05-28.