Congressperson-elect Jennifer Wexton of Virginia’s 10th District.

Photo by Jennifer Wexton Campaign / Courtesy of Jennifer Wexton Campaign

Jennifer Wexton, the newly-elected House representative of Virginia’s 10th district, publicly announced her support for D.C. statehood on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show Politics Hour on Friday.

Tom Sherwood, political commentator for the Politics Hour, asked Wexton about her support for statehood almost immediately into her segment.

Sherwood: As a D.C. resident and citizen, I’ve gotten any number of tweets and messages from people saying, are you going to support statehood for the District of Columbia?

Wexton: Absolutely, yes. The fact that D.C. residents pay taxes and don’t get any representation is absurd, and I think that we should make sure they get voting representation.

Later in the show, Wexton said she planned to work with D.C.’s non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, Eleanor Holmes Norton, on a statehood bill. Norton immediately reached out on Twitter to thank Wexton.

Norton has introduced a statehood bill every term since she was first elected in 1991. She most recently introduced it in March of 2017, and managed to get 175 members of the House to co-sponsor, dozens of votes short of the 218 needed to push the bill to the Senate for consideration. (A separate bill was introduced in the Senate in May 2017, and did not go anywhere from there.)

Other advocates for D.C. statehood in the area also rejoiced at Wexton’s words. Wexton, a Democrat, won her seat from Republican Barbara Comstock, who did not support D.C. statehood or voting representation for the District. A Democrat-controlled House gives many statehood supporters hope that there will finally be a vote on the measure on the House floor.

“It’s one more vote in the House, where every vote counts,” says Josh Burch, the head of Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood, referring to Wexton’s support.

It looks like Republicans will maintain their hold on the Senate, though, which puts the kibosh on any statehood dreams this go-round. But Burch says that it’s still incredibly beneficial to the cause to force a floor vote and a hearing that could get national attention.

“Having hearings and a vote helps raise awareness about this issue. Yes, this is a local issue, but if we don’t have national allies, we’re not going to win,” Burch says. “Most people [around the country] don’t really know or understand our status, and when you explain it to them, they go ‘Oh my God, that’s so unfair.'” (When Queer Eye host Jonathan Van Ness recently learned about D.C.’s lack of representation, he responded, “That is outrageous! That is literally why we sought independence from Great Britain.”)

A lack of statehood hinders D.C.’s ability to govern itself. Congress is allowed to meddle in the District’s affairs, hampering the local government’s efforts to do things like legalize the sale of marijuana. (A tax-and-regulate scheme for weed may be one of the changes under Democrat-controlled House.) Most of this happens through policy riders, though Republican legislators have also moved to permanently prevent the District from using its own locally-raised funds on abortions and to prevent the D.C. Council from enacting certain gun regulations.

In addition, residents of the District of Columbia do not have any voting representation in the United States Congress. Under the Democrats, though, Norton will likely see at least a partial restoration of her vote.

Burch says remedying the situation requires support from as many congresspeople as possible.

“I think every vote is worth celebrating, every vote is closer to what we need. We went from [Virginia 10 being a] district that doesn’t support statehood, that has never supported it, to it being one that does,” he says. “I think it’s very important that she expressed her support before she’s even gotten to Capitol Hill.”

Previously: 

D.C. Statehood Bill Introduced On Capitol Hill Despite Long Odds

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