November 8, 2006
Election '06: What It All Means for D.C.
Speculation over how things may or may not change is an inevitable part of any election. There has been plenty of chatter about the impacts our city's new leaders might have on the lives of District residents. However, we mustn't forget that D.C. is America's first and best official fiefdom, subject to the whims of what can only be called a highly creative bunch of representatives and senators. As a result, elections held hundreds of miles away have the potential to affect us pretty substantially and in unexpected ways. Here's DCist's look at how last night's House and Senate results might impact us peasants of D.C.
Photo by krwaltondc
District Voting Rights May Finally Get a Fair Hearing
In November of 1993, 152 Democrats and 1 Republican, Wayne Gilchrist of Maryland, voted for D.C. statehood. As local political commentator and voting rights guru Mark Plotkin pointed out in his WaPo chat yesterday, that leaves 40 percent of the Democrats who voted against it. Why should this newly Democratic House be any different?
Both presumed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman are very supportive of District voting rights. Both have expressed interest in building on Virginia Rep. Tom Davis' hard work to bring D.C. voting issues up in the House. Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty has stated several times that he will make voting rights a priority, and has already met with Waxman, something Tony Williams never did.
The only monkey wrench in all this might be Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania. Murtha, who declared once again on NPR this morning that he will run against Pelosi for Speaker of the HouseMaryland Rep. and voting rights supporter Steny Hoyer for House Majority Leader, also voted against D.C. statehood in 1993.
Roosevelt Island and D.C.-Area Historic Sites are Safe
You may remember a brouhaha about a year ago over California Representative Richard Pombo's proposal to sell off several parks and other public lands to the highest bidder. On Pombo's list were several sites in and around the D.C. area, including the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House on Vermont Avenue by Logan Circle, which honors the woman who founded the National Council of Negro Women, and the Thomas Stone National Historical Site in Maryland, in memory of one of the signers of Declaration of Independence. The plan also called for commercial development of Theodore Roosevelt Island, the highly popular 91-acre wooded island in the middle of the Potomac.
Pombo was well known for similar anti-environmental antics, including an attempt to gut the Endangered Species Act and drill for oil in just about every possible corner of the country. Fortunately, Pombo lost his seat of 14 years by six points last night, to San Francisco Bay-area wind energy entrepreneur Jerry McNerney. Though many did not consider this race competitive, environmental groups opposed him with one of their most aggressive campaigns in recent memory, contributing over a million dollars and countless man hours into Pombo's defeat.
D.C. Handgun Ban Still in Jeopardy
It's not all rosy for the District, despite the good news above. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has attempted to overturn the District's three decade old ban on handguns, won in a walk last night over her Democratic opponent. No word on whether Senator Hutchison will make an effort to revive her misguided interloping, but a Democratic Senate would make it a lot more difficult.
Coincidentally, NRA sweetheart and Senator-for-now George Allen dutifully stood next to Hutchison at a press conference last year as she told us it was her duty to oversee and protect D.C. residents. Thanks, but no thanks.
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Hey,
Murtha has no intention to run for Speaker of the House, but rather for House Majority Leader, a different post. Pelosi will be Speaker.
If the DC voting rights bill passes, it's a wash for both parties. As it stands right now, along with DC gaining a House Rep., Utah will gain a Representative as a comprimise. Considering that this is a bill authored by a Republican, don't automatically compare this to the vote in 1993. There has been enough time and responsible local government to wash some of the visions of Marion Barry out of the minds in Congress. I have heard that it was the plight of Tom Davis' many hill staffers not being able to have a vote for the very place that they work for.
so, during the president's news conference someone asked him about the dc voting rights legislation that was coming up. he started off by saying something like "since you feel so strongly about democracy in iraq, why don't you believe it should be represented here in the nation's capital..." or something like that. bush ended the question by simply saying it was the first he had heard of it. dman! anyone know how the reporter was???
Why would Williams bother meeting Waxman? He was in the minority for the entirety of Williams' mayoralty. And besides, as we all know, a good deal of the pressure to reject the Davis plan comes from the statehood movement itself (e.g. Norton's footdragging until it became impossible to stop at which point she was suddenly all for it)
And really, Pombo's antics were just that. There was never, ever, a chance that Roosevelt Island would get developed. I'm certainly not going to miss the guy, but come on, those sites were always "safe."
All in all I certainly hope DC benefits more than this. The first one seems only slightly more likely; the second is a phantom gain; and the last is stretching it a bit (the effectiveness of the ban is debateable, just ask those church attendees who were robbed at gunpoint last week).
Frankly the most important thing they could do for us is to rationalize homeland security funding. I expect some improvements there, but politicians are still politicians, and all these Freshman congressmen are going to have a lot of pressure to come up with the goods, and securing some backwater highway rest stop from terrorism might get in the way of getting more funding our way. But it would be tough not to improve on this measure though.
whether or not you think the gun ban has been effective is not really important, but rather the fact that it is overwhelmingly supported by the people and the government of dc.
Murtha, who declared once again on NPR this morning that he will run against Pelosi for Speaker of the House
He actually said he'll be running for Majority Leader, presumably against Maryland's own Steny Hoyer.
Fair enough, but the removal of a vague threat to lift the handgun ban is hardly an earth shattering event. I'd hope we'd get a little more tangible benefit than that.
What a poorly researched and edited fluff piece.
Furthermore, Pombo's actions as chair of the Resources Committee were hardly antics and his obscene ethics violations played just as big a role with the voters of CA-11 as his environmental improprieties.
SY and Matt F. - I mixed up Murtha's statement from NPR this morning, and have since changed it. Thanks for catching that, since I could not find a transcript.
Seriously - Thanks for the constructive criticism. of my fluff. I promise it will be fluffier next time.
What about the use of DC as a voucher test case -might that change now? Or is that being pushed more by the Executive Branch. Not sure.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson recently sold her large corner house here on the Hill. I remember quite well when she was pushing to overturn the handgun ban in DC. Her house was a crime magnet - she never turned on the outdoor lights and she'd allowed the entire corner to become really overgrown, with out of control bushes and such. Perfect hiding spots for criminals.
Being the geek that I am I emailed her office and asked why if she was so concerned about her safety, why didn't she at least hire someone to cut her bushes back and turn on her lights. She never responded. And never cut back or turned on lights.
The house sold recently. The first thing the new owners did was cut all the bushes back and start turning on the lights.
It will be interesting to see where Tom Davis ends up. I think he's now the 4th top Republican and with Hasert leaving his post, perhaps Davis will move up?
Not a fan of his Republican views but he is a good advocate for the region, metro and DC voting rights.