D.C. voters will decide November 3 whether to ban foie gras citywide

What's actually on the line

Three weeks from Election Day, Washington voters already know they're picking a new mayor for the first time in 12 years. They're also deciding something they've never voted on before: whether the city bans foie gras. That second question is easy to dismiss as a curiosity from the fine-dining world. Don't. If Initiative 86 passes, it would prohibit the force-feeding of birds and ban the sale of products produced through that practice, including foie gras, with fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 per violation and the possibility of a business license suspension or revocation. It would make D.C. one of the largest cities in the country to do that through a direct popular vote, not a council act, not a court order.

The question goes to D.C. voters on November 3, 2026.

A signature drive that broke records

The group behind the push, Pro-Animal D.C., is a local campaign arm of the national organization Pro-Animal Future. The petition drive was led by Pro-Animal D.C., and organizers say activists had been working on getting foie gras out of the city for over four years, first trying the D.C. Council and pushing restaurants to drop it voluntarily before turning to the ballot. 'Ballot initiatives are really the best form of direct democracy,' said Natalie Fulton of Pro-Animal Future D.C.

The numbers from the petition drive are hard to argue with. Among the 46,020 signatures submitted, 31,726 were deemed valid, more than any other initiative in D.C. history. Initiative 71 to legalize cannabis had previously held the record at 27,688 valid signatures. One hundred ninety-eight circulators collected those signatures in 14 weeks. The D.C. Board of Elections certified the measure on August 5.

Pro-Animal D.C. media and content lead Natalie Fulton said the group wanted everyone in D.C. to vote on 'whether or not that cruelty should be allowed,' and noted they 'actually turned in more signatures than any other ballot initiative in D.C. history except for recreational marijuana.'

What the law would actually do

Known formally as Initiative 86, or the Prohibiting Force-Feeding of Birds Act of 2026, the proposal would prohibit the practice and ban the 'sale or distribution of any product resulting from force-feeding a bird, including foie gras.'

If approved, the ban would take effect July 1, 2027. The measure would focus on commercial sales; individuals could still possess foie gras for personal consumption. That personal-possession carve-out is drawn from court precedents set in the years-long fight over California's foie gras ban.

Enforcement falls to D.C. businesses that sell or distribute the product. Restaurants and businesses that violate the law could face fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, and could have their business licenses suspended or revoked for repeat violations.

D.C.'s restaurant world and what it eats

The city is not a small market for this product. D.C. has more restaurants serving foie gras than any other U.S. city except New York City and Las Vegas, according to a recent report from Colorado State University's Animal-Human Policy Center. That same report confirmed at least 17 restaurants serving the ingredient, while Pro-Animal D.C. says it found it listed on nearly 50 D.C. dining menus, though many offer it only seasonally.

The restaurant industry's response has been muted but pointed. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington did not come out in full opposition. In a statement, RAMW said it 'recognizes that people have differing views on foie gras, but a citywide ban is a significant response to a product served by a relatively small number of District restaurants.' The group added that decisions about restaurant menus 'are generally best left to individual businesses and the diners they serve,' and said it hopes District voters 'have clear information about what Initiative 86 would prohibit, how it would affect District restaurants, and whether a citywide ban is the right approach.'

The most vocal industry voice has been Bart Hutchins, chef and owner of Capitol Hill restaurant Butterworth's. Hutchins, who wrote a Washington Post op-ed defending the dish, told Washingtonian magazine: 'I don't know a single chef who's excited that foie gras is being banned. There's a certain cowardice in the chef's community that's afraid to speak out about it.'

Hutchins's argument is a biological one. He contends that while the process of force-feeding looks terrible, a duck's esophagus is 'desensitized' and that ducks in the wild gorge themselves before migration, so foie gras farming amplifies a natural biological process. Pro-Animal D.C. disputes that framing entirely. The group says the process can cause painful punctures in birds' beaks and throats, respiratory distress, suffocation, and difficulty walking, and that mortality rates for force-fed birds are up to 19 times higher than for birds that are not force-fed.

One D.C. chef, who asked not to be named out of fear of backlash, told Washingtonian he currently serves foie gras off-menu and will likely continue to do so even with a ban, noting that despite California's ban, he has eaten at restaurants there that still serve it.

The political context

This is direct democracy at the ballot, not a council vote. That distinction matters in a city where the last four years have seen the D.C. Board of Elections certify and run ranked-choice voting for the first time, with the June 2026 primary being the first time D.C. implemented ranked-choice tabulation, and where voters are already weighing an unusually packed ballot this fall.

A new mayor will be elected in D.C. for the first time in 12 years during November's general election. Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic nominee, will face Robert L. Gross of the D.C. Statehood Green Party. Foie gras sits alongside that historic open-seat race on the same ballot, and alongside everything else D.C. voters are being asked to decide at once.

The animal welfare campaign has not lacked for political support. D.C. representative Oye Owolewa, who ran for D.C. Council this cycle, worked alongside Pro-Animal D.C. to gather signatures and has said he believes force-feeding birds is morally wrong.

Initiative 86, if approved, would put D.C. in the company of Denver, which will have a similar initiative on its November ballot, and Portland, Oregon, which passed a comparable bill in June 2026. Pro-Animal D.C. also points to New York City and Pittsburgh, which passed foie gras sales restrictions without a single restaurant or grocery store going out of business as a result, according to the campaign.

Whether D.C.'s ban would survive legal challenge is a separate question. If the initiative passes, the D.C. ban would take effect July 1, 2027, though legal battles over foie gras bans elsewhere have delayed or complicated implementation.

In recent polling, a majority of D.C. voters said they would support a prohibition on the force-feeding of birds and the sale of force-fed foie gras, according to Pro-Animal D.C. The group has not released the full methodology of that polling publicly.

What D.C. Residents Should Watch

• November 3 vote: Initiative 86 is on the general election ballot alongside the mayoral race. D.C. residents can check their polling place and sample ballot at dcboe.org.
• Enforcement mechanism: If the initiative passes, watch for which city agency takes the lead on enforcement and how quickly the D.C. Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection moves to write rules before the July 1, 2027 effective date.
• Legal challenge: Foie gras bans in California and Chicago both faced years of litigation. A D.C. win for Initiative 86 is unlikely to be the final word; expect a court fight and watch whether the incoming mayor's administration chooses to defend the law aggressively or at arm's length.
• Restaurant compliance: At least one named chef has already indicated publicly he may keep serving foie gras regardless of the vote. The D.C. attorney general's office and city licensing agencies will face early pressure on how seriously they enforce a law that, in other cities, has often been ignored.
• The 46,020-signature mandate question: The campaign broke the city's all-time petition signature record. Whether that level of grassroots support translates to actual votes on November 3 is the number to watch when results come in.

Sources: WTOP; WJLA; DC News Now; Washingtonian; NBC4 Washington; The Hill; PoPville; Pro-Animal D.C.; D.C. Board of Elections