Muriel Bowser

Muriel Bowser
Official portrait, 2024
Mayor of the District of Columbia
Assumed office
January 2, 2015
Preceded byVincent C. Gray
Member of the Council of the District of Columbia
from Ward 4
In office
January 2, 2007 – January 2, 2015
Preceded byAdrian Fenty
Succeeded byBrandon Todd
Personal details
Born
Muriel Elizabeth Bowser

(1972-08-02) August 2, 1972
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children1
EducationChatham University (BA)
American University (MPP)
Signature

Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt. Since taking office in 2015, she has secured three consecutive mayoral victories—the first African‑American woman to do so.[1]

Elected to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in 2004, Bowser was elected to the council in a special election in 2007 and re-elected in 2008 and 2012. She was elected mayor in 2014 after defeating incumbent Vincent C. Gray in the Democratic primary. Bowser was re-elected in 2018 and in 2022.

  1. ^ Ba, Yacine K. (March 3, 2025). "Mayor Muriel Bowser Speaks at Charter Day Convocation 2025". The Hilltop Online. Retrieved July 8, 2025. [Bowser] is also the first African American woman elected mayor of an American city for three consecutive four-year terms