Mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser testifies at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Tuesday that she will not seek reelection next year, setting the stage for the heavily Democratic city's first mayoral race in two decades not to feature an incumbent.

"It has been the honor of my life to be your Mayor. Together, we have built a legacy of success of which I am intensely proud," she said. "With a grateful heart, I am announcing that I will not seek a fourth term."

Bowser, a Democrat, has served as mayor since 2015 after spending more than a decade in municipal government, including on the city council.

The mayor has clashed with the federal government, pushing back after Republican President Donald Trump in August ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops to the city and a federal takeover of Washington's police department.

Trump has long derided Washington as crime-riddled. Violent crime in the city peaked in 2023, when the number of murders reached its highest in more than two decades. Bowser responded with a policing strategy using data to target extra patrols in high-crime areas, and the number of reported incidents has been dropping since then, according to police records.

The city sued the Trump administration in September to prevent the National Guard deployment, which a federal judge temporarily halted last week.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bowser's decision not to seek reelection.

During Trump's first term, Bowser often sharply criticized the administration's messaging, including during global anti-racism protests in 2020 when she had a two-block "Black Lives Matter" mural painted along a street leading to the White House. The mural was removed in March of this year in response to Republican threats to cut the city's transit funding.

In a video message on X, Bowser said her accomplishments included lower unemployment and the completion of the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which is used by more than 70,000 commuters daily.

"We also brought our city back from the ravages of a global pandemic and summoned our collective strength to stand tall against bullies who threaten our very autonomy while preserving home rule - that is our North Star," Bowser said.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Scott Malone and Edmund Klamann)