By Tevon Blair ·Updated March 31, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… After making history as the nation’s first African American woman elected to three consecutive four-year terms as mayor of any major city, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is deepening the District’s economic future in her final term.
“There’s no better job if you love politics and policy than being mayor of your hometown.” She followed by saying “I am proud of not just getting elected but doing the job.”
In 2013, Bowser launched her first campaign for mayor of the District of Columbia with a vision to close the achievement-attainment gap anddecoding="async" src="https://media.essence.com/vxcjywbwpa/uploads/2026/03/GettyImages-2245049442-scaled.jpg" alt="Muriel Bowser Sets Blueprint For Black Women In Politics" width="400" height="273" />WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 18: Mayor Muriel Bowser during the Committee On Oversight and Government Reform Hearing On The Oversight of the District of Columbia inside the United States Capitol in Washington, DC on September 18, 2025.(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Bowser administration has invested billions into residents east of the river, which has expanded access to new infrastructure, services, facilities, and local jobs and organizations.
Earlier this year, the administration announced a historic $1.5 billion investment goal for District spending, compared to the $300 million in spending when she first came into office. The investment goal would support spending with small businesses and Certified Business Enterprises (CBEs) located in the district, ensuring that local businesses benefit from government funding and creating more jobs for residents.
Today, D.C. sits as the nation’s fastest-improving urban school system with graduation rates increasing by 23 percent since 2015. Bowser has invested in educational programs that support D.C.’s youth, including Books from Birth and Kids Ride Free with funding towards tutoring services and after school programming. She has also expanded the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program to young people up to age 24. In addition, increased funding has been allocated to support the upcoming school year.
Bowser’s deep understanding of the District’s unique needs comes from her background as a native of the Northeast side of the city and her earlier role as a council member. For decades, leaders who serve as D.C. mayor carry a different and more expansive set of responsibilities than their counterparts across the country, as the benefits of statehood don’t exist for the nation’s capital.
As Bowser has led through three different U.S. presidential administrations and a Congress that has been led by both Democrats and Republicans, her priorities have been centered on expanding opportunities for D.C. residents. An existing untapped >D.C. statehood. Bowser, like many other natives, has been a staunch supporter and advocate to expand voting rights and representation for more than 700,000 residents.
After the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in D.C., the January 6 insurrection and several protests during the racial reckoning in 2020, millions of Americans saw why the fight for statehood was necessary and the authority that U.S. presidents have over the District’s chief executive.
Typically, a mayor’s sole responsibility is centered on managing local functions that support residents while a sitting governor would hold the direct relationship with the president and the federal government. However, Bowser shared that “in D.C., you’re the mayor, county executive, governor and sometimes the two senators in Congress – so the job is different.”
The mayor highlighted how those isolated incidents have a harsh yet “positive impact” that will eventually lead the District to statehood, emphasizing that “now people know that D.C. needs to be the 51st state.” The recent incidents provide a case study for Congress and people outside of the nation’s capital to understand its lack of representation.
Nearly twelve years after Bowser started her first term in office, 18 Black women have served as a mayor of a “big city.” According to Higher Heights’s 2025 Black Women in American Politics report, Black women leaders are helping the public re-imagine what representation looks like in effective leadership roles as cities like Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Charlotte have all elected Black women as mayors.
“For women in politics, I think there remains an ultimate glass ceiling to break — and while we have gone some distance we have not broken it yet,” Bowser tells ESSENCE. “I think our country is very comfortable with female legislators but less comfortable with female executives, except in the mayor’s office.”
Bowser’s leadership has been a model for many of the city’s youth who grew inspiration from seeing a Black woman in an executive role. She is reminded of the many young girls she met during her first campaign for office. “I’m the only mayor they’ve ever known and it’s a huge responsibility. It brings me great joy to have been able to have led with integrity and to deliver on my promises. The next generation of leaders are going to take over.”
In January 2027, Bowser’s historic three-terms in office will conclude. She said that in the next chapter of her career, she plans to continue her support for Washington, D.C.
“I’m going to use all the tools and experiences that D.C. residents have allowed me to have and continue to make an impact.”
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