74 Facts About Muriel Bowser

Muriel Elizabeth Bowser was born on August 2,1972 and is an American politician serving since 2015 as the mayor of the District of Columbia.

Muriel Bowser was reelected in 2008 and 2012 and ran for mayor in the 2014 election.

The youngest of six children of Joe and Joan Muriel Bowser, Muriel Bowser was born in Washington, and grew up in North Michigan Park in northeast DC In 1990, she graduated from Elizabeth Seton High School, a private all-girls Catholic high school located in Bladensburg, Maryland.

Muriel Bowser received a college scholarship due to her above average grades.

Muriel Bowser graduated from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a bachelor's degree in history, and she graduated from the American University School of Public Affairs with a Masters in Public Policy.

Muriel Bowser began her political career in 2004, running unopposed for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

Muriel Bowser represented district 4B09, which includes the neighborhood of Riggs Park.

Muriel Bowser was unopposed again in 2006 when she ran for re-election.

Muriel Bowser maintained that she had supported the development project before running for Council.

In 2008, Muriel Bowser announced her reelection campaign for the council.

Muriel Bowser won the Democratic Party primary election, receiving 75 percent of votes.

In 2011, Muriel Bowser was appointed to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority board of governors, a position she held until 2015.

Muriel Bowser said she would not turn down donations from corporations.

Candidate Max Skolnik criticized Muriel Bowser for receiving campaign contributions from developers, corporate bundlers, and lobbyists, saying that Muriel Bowser would favor the interests of these corporate donors.

Muriel Bowser said she was not in favor of banning corporations from making political donations altogether, saying that doing so would make it more difficult to track where campaign donations come from.

Muriel Bowser said that corporations are banned from donating to federal elections, but that corporations still find ways to give to campaigns.

Muriel Bowser's candidacy was endorsed by the editorial boards of The Washington Post and the Washington City Paper.

On March 23,2013, Muriel Bowser announced that she would run for Mayor of the District of Columbia in the 2014 election.

Muriel Bowser emphasized that she can connect with longtime residents concerned about the rapid changes occurring in the District, while still celebrating the changes that had occurred.

Muriel Bowser was against increasing the minimum wage only for employees of large retailers.

Muriel Bowser was criticized for being too inexperienced for the position, with too few legislative accomplishments while on the council, and for having a platform that was short on details.

Muriel Bowser was endorsed by EMILY's List and the editorial board of The Washington Post.

In 2017, Muriel Bowser proposed several animal regulations, including a ban on backyard chickens, a requirement that all cats be licensed, and a provision that seemed to outlaw leaving dog feces in private yards for more than 24 hours.

Muriel Bowser used her third ever veto to block legislation that would have preserved the independence of the organization, which provides grants to hundreds of artists.

In February 2018, Muriel Bowser announced the formation of a work group, with members drawn from various agencies, to explore the benefits of, and prepare the District for, autonomous vehicle technology.

Muriel Bowser released the first budget of her second term in March 2019.

Muriel Bowser responded by hailing her plan to make the DC Circulator free of charge.

In 2015, Muriel Bowser's allies formed FreshPAC, a political action committee intended to advance her agenda.

Muriel Bowser supporters had quickly raised more than $300,000 and had a goal of collecting $1 million by year's end.

Muriel Bowser said she thought FreshPAC was a good thing but its message was distorted.

The excess contributions totaled more than $11,000 from more than a dozen developers and contractors, as well as from landlord Sanford Capital, whom the Muriel Bowser administration had been slow to fine despite being responsible for more than 1,000 housing code violations.

Muriel Bowser was staunchly opposed to the act and said that she would not provide financing for implementation of the law.

The report found that the DC City Administrator - the top Muriel Bowser appointed official - had urged quick settlement of unresolved contract disputes with Fort Myer in an attempt to appease it.

In November 2020, Muriel Bowser traveled to Delaware with senior staff for a celebration of Joe Biden's victory despite the elevated risk of Coronavirus in the state and a travel advisory discouraging visits.

Muriel Bowser claimed the trip to the festivities were "essential" while critics pointed out that she violated her own protocols.

Muriel Bowser sought to address the spike by proposing legislation allowing law enforcement officials to perform warrantless searches of violent ex-offenders.

Muriel Bowser later deleted the tweet, claiming that it was scheduled to go out before the death, but did not apologize or immediately offer any condolences to Anwar's family or condemnation of his killers, who are black, sparking backlash and accusations of racial bias.

In February 2015, Muriel Bowser cancelled the creation of a public facility for art exhibitions, lectures and educational activities by the Institute for Contemporary Expression.

Muriel Bowser cited financial concerns for the decision, but critics noted that several of the firms who earlier competed unsuccessfully for the property were among her donors.

In September 2015, Muriel Bowser announced a deal with Monumental Sports owner Ted Leonsis to build a practice facility for the Washington Wizards.

Two senior Muriel Bowser appointees were among seven parents who benefited from Henderson's misuse of authority by being permitted to bypass the competitive DCPS lottery system.

In 2018, it was revealed that Muriel Bowser's recently appointed Schools chancellor Antwan Wilson had similarly manipulated the system to transfer Wilson's teenage daughter to a preferred school.

In February 2022, Muriel Bowser reappointed Karima Holmes to lead the Office of Unified Communications, a position she previously held for six years.

In January 2018, Muriel Bowser announced a $4.7 million investment in two islands in the Anacostia River, 45 acre Kingman Island and 5 acre Heritage Island.

Muriel Bowser designated portions of each island as a "state conservation area," which restricts their use to limited purposes including recreation and education.

Muriel Bowser was "unusually supportive" of the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, DC in March 2018, and in 2018 was said to be positioning herself as a national figure in the gun control movement.

In February 2016, Muriel Bowser unveiled a plan to provide housing for homeless families following the closure of District of Columbia General Hospital.

Frustrated by the DC Council's efforts to devise its own plan, Muriel Bowser lashed out with expletives at Chairman Phil Mendelson.

In 2018, Muriel Bowser nominated Joshua Lopez, former chief campaign aide to both Muriel Bowser and ex-Mayor Adrian Fenty, to serve on the board of the DC Housing Authority, which reviews contracts and sets policy for public housing.

Muriel Bowser had championed Albert's accomplishments in the months before his departure and responded to news that Albert's home had been raided by the FBI with a statement that she holds employees to high standards.

In January 2017, following Trump's inauguration and the issuance of a Presidential Executive Order threatening to withhold Federal funding from sanctuary cities, Muriel Bowser affirmed that the District would maintain its status as such.

In November 2017, Muriel Bowser announced that the District was joining seven other cities in a partnership with the National Immigration Forum to assist some 2,000 green card holders who work for the DC Government, as well as family members, in applying for US citizenship.

On September 8,2022, Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency in DC and established an Office of Migrant Services to provide services to migrants arriving from Texas and Arizona.

Muriel Bowser has shown strong police support and has not complied with numerous legal requirements regarding transparency in policing.

Muriel Bowser renamed the stretch of 16th Street NW in front of the White House, "Black Lives Matter Plaza" and had a mural painted spanning the entire street.

Muriel Bowser imposed a curfew in response, to 6:00 pm that night and end at 6:00 am the following day, though it was ignored by numerous pro-Trump rioters and insurrectionists.

Muriel Bowser received criticism for her double standard of praising Raul Castro in 2016, her allowance of painting "Black Lives Matter" on the same street and her future plans to make the area a permanent dedication to Black Lives Matter.

In October 2015, Muriel Bowser changed her position to support the $6.4-billion merger between two public utilities, Exelon and Pepco.

Community activists raised ethics concerns, claiming that Muriel Bowser was swayed by a $25 million pledge to rename the future MLS Soccer Stadium as Pepco Park.

Muriel Bowser's aides acknowledged they did not have a full grasp of the problem, and the city plans to set up a system to track complaints and settlements.

In 2015, Muriel Bowser announced Vision Zero, a traffic safety initiative that aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities by 2024.

Muriel Bowser named former Council candidate Courtney Snowden to the new position.

Muriel Bowser said that appropriate management action had been taken in response to staff babysitting, without specifying what was done.

In October 2017, Muriel Bowser announced a $3 million infusion into housing and retail projects in DC Wards 7 and 8 in an effort to remedy the scarcity of grocery stores in the District's poorest wards.

Muriel Bowser awarded $2.1 million to the Jair Lynch group for redevelopment of a shopping center, and $880,000 to South Capitol Affordable Housing to assist in building out the Good Food Markets project, which includes 195 units of affordable housing as well as commercial space.

Muriel Bowser had recently provided $700,000 in taxpayer funding to the agency.

In mid-May 2016, ahead of the 2016 District of Columbia Democratic primary, Muriel Bowser endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy.

Muriel Bowser delivered a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, in which she advocated for DC statehood.

In late January 2020, Muriel Bowser endorsed Michael Bloomberg's campaign in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

At the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Muriel Bowser delivered a speech remotely from Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Muriel Bowser endorsed political newcomer Dionne Reeder and provided her with volunteer and fundraising support.

Reeder lost by a significant margin and Muriel Bowser was not able to deliver a victory in her home base of Ward 4.

In 2015, Muriel Bowser bought a home in Colonial Village, moving from a Riggs Park duplex where she had lived since 2000.

In May 2018, Muriel Bowser announced that she had adopted a baby whom she named Miranda Elizabeth Muriel Bowser.