Photo by cmoaknd

Via The Washington Times, Mayor Vince Gray and members of the D.C. Council are headed up north in the near future to take the statehood cause to legislators in chilly New England.

The upcoming trip certainly seems well timed. After tonight’s Iowa caucuses, much of the national political apparatus will trek to New Hampshire for the Granite State’s presidential primary next week. Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) is scheduled to appear before the New Hampshire state legislature and ask for a resolution supporting D.C. statehood, the Times reported. Brown’s speaking tour also includes sunnier climes also on the GOP nominating calendar, with a stop in Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 31.

District officials are looking to use their counterparts in statehouses around the country as leverage toward members of Congress:

Brown and David A. Catania, at-large independents, are handpicking state legislatures that will support D.C. statehood through resolutions in their chambers — beginning with their District-friendly contacts in New England — as part of a multi-platform campaign the city began in November. The idea is that sitting members of Congress will be forced to look at what is happening in their home districts and that some state-level politicians will sympathize with D.C. self-determination efforts before they springboard to Capitol Hill.

As the Times notes, District leaders have made this kind of trip before. In 2008, when both the Democratic and Republican parties were in the middle of intense nominating contests, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty testified in favor of a New Hampshire bill “expressing regret” over the fact that the state’s then-senators—Republicans John Sununu and Judd Gregg—were opponents of D.C. voting rights.

Fenty was joined on that trip by Gray, then the D.C. Council chairman, and Ilir Zherka of D.C. Vote. New Hampshire State Rep. Cindy Rosenwald introduced a measure supporting D.C. statehood last July. But the previous effort to enlist state governments in the push for D.C. voting rights lacked a long-term plan, Brown said.

“Four years ago was great, but there wasn’t any sustainability,” the councilmember said in an interview with DCist. “We’re talking about a much more aggressive marketing strategy. Our goal is to get as many states as possible to introduce resolutions.”

Brown spokesman David Meadows said that the statehouse tour isn’t necessarily pegged to the presidential campaign, but is more in line with local legislative calendars. In addition to New Hampshire and Florida, Brown’s office is also speaking with lawmakers in Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Maryland and Alaska, Meadows said.

“Any pathway to statehood, whether it’s a constitutional amendment or Congressional bill will include ratification from other states,” Brown said.

Still, there have been some conversations about tying the effort to the White House race. Meadows said a letter addressed to Texas Gov. Rick Perry was drafted—playing off the anti-federal sentiment of his book Fed Up!—but scuttled after Perry’s now-infamous “Oops” moment at a Nov. 9 debate.