It’s been a while since something related to D.C. voting rights got me riled up. After all, a decade of living here makes just about anyone immune to the blather that comes out of some people’s mouths when they attempt to defend the idea of denying democratic rights to 600,000 U.S. residents who don’t currently have them because of a geographic misfortune. But a video of a debate between Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and his Republican challenger Keith Fimian during which D.C. voting rights came up deserves watching — and responding to.

During the debate, the moderator asked both Fimian and Connolly to outline whether they support voting rights for the District and how best that could be achieved. Fimian responded first, stating that he opposes D.C. voting rights and would simply like to see the District retroceded to Maryland.

“The Founders were pretty bright people. They chose, for reasons that they had, to not have voting rights in Washington, D.C. The folks who live there know that. They can live there or they can not, and it’s their choice to live there. I’m not in favor of tampering with the Constitution unless it absolutely must be done. It’s unfortunate that they don’t have the right to vote. … The fact is that the part of Washington, D.C. that is in Virginia is now part of Virginia. Why don’t we make the part of Washington, D.C. that’s in Maryland part of Maryland?” said Fimian.