Independent. Radical Centrist. Community Organizer. Bartender. Believer in dialogue and practical solutions.
Washington, DC
Joined June 2026
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If a candidate waives their right to fundraise, the city should fully fund their campaign. DC already spent $10M on the Fair Elections Program just in the primaries; so we’re paying for campaigns either way. You don’t need hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a ward wide race, or millions to run a citywide one. We can have elections driven by policy, not fundraising. Voters over donors!
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Ryan Prince retweeted
.@Janeese4DC I voted for you today because I had high hopes for our city, for change that is so desperately needed here. I feel completely duped by your promises to root out corruption and end Bowser-era cronyism & kickback schemes. Why is Trayon White continuously celebrated by your camp in this way?
CM @trayonwhite speaks at @Janeese4DC watch party. He says JLG is “anointed and appointed.” He also says the process should be respected and the DC Dems should be the ones to name the next member of the council.
Government is all about incentives. I strongly support expanding emergency rental assistance for people who genuinely need help. But this new law from White seems to shift the burden of paying rent onto taxpayers. We should help people through hard times without creating incentives not to pay rent.
Tenants may be eligible for help to clear the debt. In these cases, the District will pay up to 1/3 of the back rent only if the landlord agrees to forgive at least 1/3 of it too. The tenant then covers the rest. Tenants could also get repairs for their unit or agree to move out.
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We should listen to Mayor Williams. DC will rebound. Federal jobs and tourism will return, and this local recession won’t last forever. But we can’t afford to sit back and wait. The next two years demand tough choices, fiscal discipline, and bold leadership. That’s what leadership looks like: making the hard decisions today to put DC in position to thrive tomorrow.
The degree to which the groups that showed up to the hearing didn’t really take Mayor Williams seriously stunned me. The guy ushered in our golden age of growth—he knows what he’s talking about!
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Here in DC, we can get money out of politics. We’re a small city, so it’s not hard to spread your message. We can publicly fund candidates who pledge to never fundraise.
Our current “Fair Elections” system mostly helps political machines and incumbents. In Ward 1, Aparna Raj got nearly $250K in taxpayer money. She’s a good politician who used the system to her advantage—that’s her job. But we can build a better system.
My campaign finance reform proposal is literally democratic socialism for candidates. I’m surprised DSA doesn’t support it. Maybe it’s because the current system funnels millions to Aparna, Oye, and JLG.
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Direct democracy is the highest form of democracy.
DC voters are smart, engaged, and paying attention. That’s exactly why politicians and entrenched interests want to weaken ballot initiatives.
When politicians take power away from voters, ask one simple question:
Who benefits?
My latest on @CityCast_DC ahead of what could be a second vote today. | Why Is the D.C. Council Going After Ballot Initiatives? dc.citycast.fm/dc-politics/b…
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DC voters: the Council refuses to expel Trayon White, tries to neuter the ballot initiative process, and now wants to give the mayor a huge raise.
At what point do we ask ourselves: why do we keep supporting this one-party monopoly?
Competition matters. Accountability matters.
"The jury has spoken.. I've been elected twice [since the arrest]. I'm just here to do the work."
- @trayonwhite, at his appreciation event, speaking to @WashInformer after this photo was taken about next steps and concerns that persist post-mistrial.
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This is tone deaf. DC residents are struggling, services are failing, and politicians want a pay raise? Fix the city first. We need real solutions, not bigger paychecks for politicians. This should not pass.
Interesting: @AnitaBondsDC has introduced a bill that would increase the mayor's salary to $290,000 a year, up from the $250,000 that @MayorBowser has been making since 2023. The change would take effect on Jan. 2, 2027, when @Janeese4DC is expected to become mayor.
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Caught on camera accepting cash connected to his public office, and Trayon White is STILL sitting on the D.C. Council.
Enough is enough. Public office is not a cash register. If there’s a vote to remove him, I’m voting YES. No excuses. No loopholes. No looking the other way.
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American politics is bought and sold—and we all know it.
Trump is making billions. Senators are getting caught with gold bars. Trayon White was caught receiving bundles of cash.
Our system doesn’t reward the best ideas or the best candidates. It rewards whoever is best at raising money.
So let’s break the system.
Publicly finance DC candidates who pledge to never fundraise. No dialing for dollars. No chasing wealthy donors. No begging special interests for checks.
Prove it works in DC, then take it nationwide.
D.C. Councilmember Trayon White spoke after a judge declared a mistrial in his federal bribery case, saying he feels “redeemed again” after what he called one of the hardest two years of his life.
MORE: tinyl.co/53sh
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DC’s traffic and sidewalk safety crisis is real and it’s fixable.
Right now, our streets and sidewalks are too dangerous for kids, dogs, pedestrians, seniors, cyclists, and drivers.
We need consistent enforcement, safer infrastructure, and common sense policies that protect everyone.
Making DC’s streets safer will be a major focus of my public safety agenda.
Traffic fatalities in DC have increased by almost 2x since last year.
Vision Zero has unfortunately been a failure in DC. Fatalities remain high and progress has fallen short of Mayor Bowser's pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.
Safer infrastructure is really important, and I applaud DC for creating better infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians across the city. Better design helps reduce mistakes and harm by responsible drivers – but design isn't always destiny.
We live in a world of free wills and free-wheeling, and District leaders can't pretend paint is a full substitute for police and policy.
Here are some ideas to start:
- Better traffic enforcement: traffic cameras are helpful, but the most dangerous drivers aren't the kind of people who respectfully pay tickets.
- Address willfully unsafe behaviors by all road users.
- Redouble efforts to boot and tow dangerous drivers who have racked up thousands of dollars in parking tickets.
- Zero tolerance for speeding, cell phone use, and driving under the influence in school zones when children are present. I'm serious - endangering our children should lead to a revoked license and a night in jail.
- Authorize autonomous vehicles in the District.
wapo.st/4z0tAte
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Another example of the left and right agreeing on one thing: politicians think they know better than voters.
It’s no wonder both parties have historically low approval. Gerrymandering, reckless spending, and efforts to restrict ballot initiatives aren’t confined to one side.
If politicians want people to trust democracy, they should stop trying to rig the rules in their own favor.
10/10 The Council has never before scaled back DC Voter rights. Funny how when it comes to THEIR power, they put voters second even when the Charter makes the PEOPLE their CO-legislators. Email your CMs (except Parker and Silverman, who bravely stood with the people).
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In D.C., call yourself an independent and they immediately assume you’re a Republican in disguise.
No. I reject both parties.
They’ve mastered one thing: taking turns controlling the government while giving the American people the same excuses for why nothing gets done.
I respect Bernie Sanders for refusing to play by the two-party script. I’m doing the same.
No party loyalty. No political machine. Just independence.
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This is common sense, and something every DC politician should pay attention to. Mamdani is right to highlight the blind spots progressives often have around quality of life, government efficiency, and waste. Ignoring those issues is politically and practically shortsighted.
Mamdani is a talented politician. The bigger problem is that parts of the DSA base can resemble the mirror image of MAGA: deeply ideological, tribal, and often unwilling to entertain criticism from within.
🚨 At the U20 Mayors Summit, Mamdani Says the Left Has Ceded “Quality of Life,” “Efficiency,” and “Fraud and Waste” to the Right
This was one of the more interesting arguments Zohran Mamdani made today at the U20 Mayors Summit, and a reminder that he can be genuinely sharp when he drops the “central casting” routine.
“In New York City, there are certain words that have taken on ideological associations.”
“Quality of life has come to be seen as somehow a right-wing concern. Efficiency… has been taken on as a right-wing concern, rooting out fraud and waste, a right-wing concern.”
Mamdani’s argument is that refusing to engage those issues actually helps the Right.
“If you are staring at an example of social disorder or social inefficiency, and the left refuses to explain either why it has happened or how they will fix it, then the right gets to point at someone in the immediate area and say, ‘That’s who did it.’”
The harder question is how much of the broader Left is actually prepared to follow the advice.
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Enough with the extremes.
Reject the far right. Reject the far left. Reject the division and dysfunction.
Trump beat the progressives twice. If that isn’t a wake-up call, what is?
Vote Independent. Demand results and build a politics strong enough to defeat MAGA.
Affordability. No money in politics. Safe streets and sidewalks. Open businesses. Better services. A city that works for everyone.
Washington, D.C. can lead the way.
Focus on results. Leave the crying to Trump.
The rise of fascism relies on the death of cultural institutions and art.
And the loss of the Kennedy Center includes the loss of jobs in a city that has seen our local economy decimated this past year.
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The DC Council has repeatedly undermined the ballot-initiative process, and the FILTER Act is the latest effort to diminish the voice of DC voters.
Ballot initiatives are popular because they give residents a direct voice. Instead of changing the rules, the Council should respect the process and implement initiatives voters have already approved.
DC deserves better.
Here’s a really strong statement of opposition to the FILTER Act (B26-436) from Gary Thompson, former Chair of the DC Board of Elections (Jan 2022-July 2026). Worth reading all 9 pages of it - pages 1-4:
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We need to reject political extremes.
We need to say NO to MAGA and NO to DSA.
The political spectrum isn’t a straight line—it’s a horseshoe. And MAGA and DSA have more in common with each other than either does with the politics of the majority of Americans.
Both extremes have proven incapable of governing effectively.
We must reject the extremes everywhere. We must reject the false choice. And we must refuse to let the fringes speak for us.
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DC needs to realize we’re competing with Northern Virginia and Maryland for businesses, jobs, and investment.
Developers and small businesses have options—they can open just a few miles outside DC’s jurisdiction.
If we want to win, we need to be pro-business: lower barriers, create incentives, and make DC the easiest and most attractive place in the region to build and invest.
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Local government is about incentives. DC’s are badly misaligned.
We’re regulating housing like NYC and LA, driving up costs while families struggle to find homes/apartments they can afford. Taxes are high, and the drug and mental health crisis is visible on our streets.
If we want families to stay, we need to make DC more affordable, safe, and livable. We should stop doubling down on policies that push them out.
THIS IS NOT A LIST ANY CITY SHOULD WANT TO BE ON.
New apartments now average just 645 square feet in Seattle, 747 in D.C. and 774 in Chicago and in nearly every city shown, they’re still shrinking!
We’ve spent years building the same small studio or one-bedroom for the same single or childless household while treating family-sized apartments like a luxury product.
Cities need homes for families, multigenerational households and every other way people actually live.
A housing boom that builds for only one kind of household is a failure. Build housing for everyone.
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DC doesn’t have a crime problem we can’t solve. We have an enforcement problem.
WMATA understood the assignment. Now DC politicians need to follow suit.
In Ward 1, residents are tired of reckless drivers flying down roads and sidewalks, open drug use and overdoses, and shoplifting treated like a minor inconvenience.
We should not accept disorder as the price of living in a city.
Fare enforcement isn’t just about securing the revenue, @wmataGM’s crackdowns on scofflaws have made the system pleasant for normal people and safe for kids.
It takes a bit of work to have and enforce rules but it’s worth it.
slowboring.com/p/an-easy-way…
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