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WASHINGTON (AP) Muriel Bowser was sworn in Friday as the seventh elected mayor of the District of Columbia, promising to bring new energy to city government and combat growing inequality in the prosperous nation's capital.

Bowser, a 42-year-old Democrat, spent seven years on the D.C. Council before being elected to the city's highest office. She replaces Vincent Gray, who spent much of his only term dogged by scandals involving his 2010 campaign.

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"It is indeed the greatest honor of my life to be sworn in as mayor of my hometown," Bowser said.

Known as a cautious and consensus-building politician and a disciplined campaigner, Bowser pledged that her administration would be "both bold and pragmatic," and she identified several problems that she intends to tackle right away, including a looming $250 million budget shortfall, a spike in violent crime and a much-delayed streetcar project.

A native Washingtonian, Bowser worked in the government in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland, and served as an elected neighborhood commissioner in the District before she was endorsed by then-mayor Adrian Fenty for his old D.C. Council seat. She is unmarried and has no children.

While the District is gaining population rapidly and its real estate market is booming, progress has been slower in poor, majority-black communities, especially east of the Anacostia River. The city's public schools are plagued by huge achievement gaps between whites and minorities.

"I understand the great responsibility of leading this city at this time a time both rich with prosperity and rife with inequality," Bowser said. "It is my duty to focus on our men and boys of color and find hope where it is missing."

Bowser becomes the second woman to serve as mayor in 40 years of District self-rule, and in her remarks, she acknowledged the handful of women who lead major U.S. cities, including Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore and Annise Parker of Houston.

Gray leaves office to face a future that could include criminal charges. Six people who helped him get elected four years ago have pleaded guilty to felonies, and while the mayor has not been accused of a crime, federal prosecutors have said he knew about an illegal slush fund that aided his campaign.

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Democrat Muriel Bowser sworn in as DC mayor