Congressional Democrats are making a big push to end the unjust disenfranchisement of Washington, D.C.'s 700,000 residents, but not every Democrat is yet on board with the idea, despite the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The map at the top of this post (see here for a larger version) details which senators have signed on as cosponsors of Delaware Sen. Tom Carper's D.C. statehood bill, which so far counts 33 supporters.
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Two hundred Democrats have also signed on to cosponsor a companion bill in the House, which has been given the designation “HR51,” for the 51st state.
But while backers have succeeded in making statehood a front-and-center issue, 14 Democrats in the Senate and 34 in the House have yet to join. You can see which senators haven’t come out for statehood in the map above, while reticent House Democrats are listed in a table at the end of this post. (This list does not include Nancy Pelosi, who in her role as speaker of the House does not usually cosponsor legislation. However, she has spoken strongly in favor of HR51.)
With Republicans dead set against the idea, Democrats will need every vote they can get. Although Senate Majority Mitch McConnell will never let this proposal come to a vote so long as Republicans hold the Senate, passage in the House this year would be a major symbolic victory that could pave the way for a Senate vote if Democrats gain a majority in 2020.
Statehood supporters have proposed shrinking the federal district down to a core of important government buildings surrounding the National Mall and White House and admitting the bulk of D.C. as a new state. If Democrats regain Congress and win the presidency in 2020, they could then admit the new state of Washington, D.C., with simple majorities in Congress by eliminating the filibuster, since the admission of new states is treated just like ordinary legislation.
But first, they'll need every Democrat's support, and if skeptical Democrats don’t change their minds, D.C. citizens will remain wrongly disenfranchised. The Senate, which only exists as a compromise because small states threatened to bolt the union, for ages has given Republicans an unfair structural advantage that has seen them win majorities this decade even though Democrats have collectively earned more votes across recent election cycles. Admitting D.C. to the union would not only mitigate this partisan unfairness, but for the sake of democracy, it’s simply the right thing to do.
The table below notes the 34 House Democrats who have not signed on as cosponsors of HR51 (excluding Pelosi):
District |
Democrat |
District |
Democrat |
AZ-01 |
Tom O'Halleran |
NJ-02 |
Jeff Van Drew |
AZ-09 |
Greg Stanton |
NJ-05 |
Josh Gottheimer |
CA-07 |
Ami Bera |
NJ-11 |
Mikie Sherrill |
CA-10 |
Josh Harder |
NM-02 |
Xochitl Torres Smalls |
CA-16 |
Jim Costa |
NY-22 |
Anthony Brindisi |
CA-36 |
Raul Ruiz |
NY-25 |
Joe Morelle |
CA-39 |
Gil Cisneros |
OK-05 |
Kendra Horn |
CT-05 |
Jahana Hayes |
PA-17 |
Conor Lamb |
GA-06 |
Lucy McBath |
SC-01 |
Joe Cunningham |
IA-03 |
Cindy Axne |
TN-05 |
Jim Cooper |
IL-10 |
Brad Schneider |
TX-07 |
Lizzie Fletcher |
IN-01 |
Pete Visclosky |
TX-15 |
Vicente Gonzalez |
MD-05 |
Steny Hoyer |
TX-28 |
Henry Cuellar |
ME-02 |
Jared Golden |
UT-04 |
Ben McAdams |
MI-08 |
Elissa Slotkin |
WA-08 |
Kim Schrier |
MN-02 |
Angie Craig |
WA-10 |
Denny Heck |
MN-07 |
Collin Peterson |
WI-03 |
Ron Kind |