It followed the passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act by the U.S. Congress in 1973.

The election was won by Walter Washington, a Democrat.

Washington won the Democratic nomination in a seven-candidate primary election in which his most significant opponent was Clifford Alexander Jr. As with every mayoral election that followed, the 1974 race was at its most intense in the Democratic Primary, with 90 percent of DC's voters registered as Democrats.

[1] The primary contest was a seven-person race, but the highest profile candidates were Walter Washington (the incumbent, being the city's presidentially appointed mayor-commissioner), and Clifford Alexander Jr. (the former chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

Washington was by far the favorite at the start of the campaign in May 1974, but tightened as the September primary drew closer.