Photo by Matt Cohen.

It’s official: Mayor Muriel Bowser.

This morning, at the Washington Convention Center, Muriel Bowser—along with three new Councilmembers, four returning Councilmembers, and the District’s first elected attorney general—was sworn in as the eight mayor of D.C.

“I’m ready to get to work,” Mayor Bowser said as she concluded her inauguration speech, which covered a myriad of topics and promises, including the city’s homeless crisis and affordable housing problems, education, protecting the will of the voters, advocating for D.C. statehood, and “grand expectations” like winning the bid to host the 2024 Olympic games.

But Bowser wasn’t alone in discussing such topics. Among the seven other Councilmembers and attorney general who were sworn in this morning, at least six of them mentioned reviving the movement to make D.C. the 51st state, while numerous others named homelessness, affordable housing, and education as some of the biggest problem areas the government needs to focus on.

Among the new faces sworn in this morning were Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau—who defeated longtime incumbent Jim Graham in the April primary—Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, and the city’s first-ever elected attorney general, Karl Racine. As the D.C.’s first elected attorney general, Racine promised that “when the government acts contrary to law, I must and I will uphold the law.”

Racine, along with several others, mentioned that they’d work diligently to protect the will of the D.C. voters, including Initiative 71, a ballot initiative to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the city. Recently, House Republicans—led by our best bud Rep. Andy Harris—successfully attached a rider to an omnibus spending bill to stop Initiative 71. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson—who was re-sworn in today—promised that he’ll deliver the ballot initiative to Congress anyway.

In a speech that was mayor-sounding in its passion and scope of topics, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh invigoratingly promised to reenergize the statehood movement. “Is that it? License plates? Is that really it?” she said, sarcastically.

But the focus of the inauguration was Bowser, and each Councilmember sworn in said that they look forward to working with her and her administration on issues.

Beyond laying out her policy agenda and priorities as mayor, Bowser revealed a bit of her personal side after receiving the official seal of D.C. from now ex-mayor Vince Gray. “I find peace in Rock Creek Park,” she said, “and I need to see the ocean from time to time to reset and recenter.” Just pick a beach that’s not in Andy Harris’s district.