…and it’s not today’s primaries.
Tomorrow New Hampshire state Representative Cindy Rosenwald will introduce legislation expressing regret that the Granite State’s two senators — Judd Gregg and John Sununu, both Republicans — last year voted against legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. And to testify in favor of the legislation, a number of D.C. pols and voting rights activists will be on hand, including Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray, D.C. Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka, eight members of the council and the city’s Shadow Delegation.
The legislation, first floated last September, is simple and to the point, expressing the state’s regret that Gregg and Sununu voted against the measure and formally declaring New Hampshire’s support for “full representative democracy for all United States citizens, including the residents of the District of Columbia.”
Though a small gesture, the legislation marks the first state-level reaction to the Senate’s failure to move the voting rights bill forward. Voting rights activists have indicated that they’re looking to target a number of senators, including Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).
This should be a lesson — D.C. doesn’t get mad, it gets even. You take our votes, we take yours.
Martin Austermuhle