The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the D.C. Council.

At its official formation in 1801 by Act of Congress, the district consisted of five political sub-divisions: three cities with their own municipal governments, and two rural counties.

In 1820, the federal charter was amended to allow the mayor to be popularly elected, although only white male property owners could vote.

In 1848, the property-ownership requirement was lifted, and in 1867, Congress extended the franchise to Black males over President Andrew Johnson's veto.

[7] Incumbent mayor-commissioner Walter Washington was elected the first home-rule Mayor of the District of Columbia on November 5, 1974.

Councilmember Adrian Fenty defeated Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp in that year's Democratic primary race to succeed Williams as mayor and started his term in 2007.

Mayor Gray won the general election and assumed office in January 2011 with a pledge to bring economic opportunities to more of the district's residents and under-served areas.

[17] Gray in turn lost the subsequent Democratic Party primary in 2014 to Councilmember Muriel Bowser, who went on to win the general election and was then reelected in 2018[18] and 2022, making her only the second person to serve three consecutive terms as Mayor of the District of Columbia.

[20] The commission examined several possibilities, including the Old Naval Hospital on Capitol Hill, the warden's house at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and several former embassies and chanceries before issuing a final report recommending a plan proposed by the Eugene B. Casey Foundation to privately finance the construction of a residence in District of Columbia's Foxhall neighborhood and donate it to the district under the name of The Casey Mansion.

However, residents objected to the plan on the grounds that it aggrandized and insulated the mayor from his constituents;[21] that the location, rather than symbolizing District of Columbia's economic and ethnic diversity, would place the mayor in one of the district's least diverse, wealthiest, and most exclusive communities; and, especially, that the Casey Foundation's plan required the acquisition of 1.8 acres (0.73 ha) of national park land to be used as private grounds for the mansion.

[22] After several months of delays caused by these political entanglements, the project began movement in October 2003; that December, however, the Casey Foundation suddenly announced that it was abandoning plans for a mayoral residence and donating the land to the Salvation Army.

Candidates must live and be registered to vote in the District of Columbia for one year prior to the date of the election.