Christina Henderson, a current legislative assistant for Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and former staffer for outgoing At-large councilmember David Grosso, has announced her independent candidacy for an At-large seat on the D.C. Council.

Henderson has already received an endorsement from Grosso, who announced recently that he wouldn’t run for a third term. She joins four other candidates vying for the two open seats in 2020, one of which must go to an independent candidate.

At-large councilmember Robert White, a Democrat, is running for re-election, and so far no challengers have emerged for the Democratic primary. Henderson’s main competition for the seat will most likely be the other independent candidates; Markus Batchelor, Anthony Dale, and Chander Jayaraman have filed to run so far.

“When I looked at the council, I felt that there were some issues that weren’t being addressed,” says Henderson, who currently lives in Petworth with her husband and daughter. “There was a perspective that was missing, and I thought that I have an interesting set of experiences that would be of value to D.C. residents. I didn’t go into government to maintain the status quo. I thought the status quo wasn’t working.”

The 33-year-old was born in Brooklyn but says the question of where she’s from is hard to answer. Henderson’s mother joined the Army when she was in elementary school, prompting the family to relocate several times. She adds that D.C. is the first home she was able to choose for herself.

After graduating from Furman University in South Carolina, Henderson moved to D.C. where she worked as a legislative staffer in Senator Kay Hagan’s (D-NC) office. After receiving a Master’s from Princeton University, Henderson wanted to shift her focus to local and state politics, joining the office of human capital with D.C. Public Schools.

In 2013, Henderson began working as David Grosso’s deputy chief of staff, and directed the education committee when Grosso became chair in 2015. In this role, Henderson says she saw the power of local politics to change the lives of those in her community.

“When I worked for the council, that was some of the most impactful work I’ve done in my career,” Henderson says. “In terms of being able to speak to constituents, have them present a problem, and then you research the problem and how to solve it. You go through this whole process, but what I really loved is that very soon thereafter you were able to see the impact of the work you did.”

After the 2016 presidential election, Henderson felt that she needed to advocate against the new administration in a federal capacity, and she took a job as a legislative assistant in Schumer’s office. She says she now has a unique perspective on D.C. politics and federal politics that will add something new to the council, to the benefit all of D.C.’s residents.

With her background in DCPS, Henderson hopes to prioritize improvements to the education system in the District, as well as the availability and affordability of healthcare and housing. “I just want to remind people there are human lives in the middle of these policy conversations,” Henderson says.

Grosso has been a reliable vote with the D.C. Council’s progressive wing, helping spearhead efforts to pass universal paid family leave and publicly funded elections, along with so-far unsuccessful efforts to regulate recreational marijuana and decriminalize sex work. His departure marks the first time an incumbent isn’t running for reelection in two cycles, as the Washington Post pointed out.

Henderson says she cannot speak on Grosso’s decision not to run again, but she was not surprised by this move.

“From the moment I met him, he never struck me as the person who would be in politics for 50 years,” says Henderson. “He wanted to come, do some good, raise some issues, be a champion for the vulnerable people, and the people that don’t have a voice. For now, he did his work, and it’s time for new fresh perspectives.”

Henderson says she worked closely with Grosso on a number of different initiatives while on his staff, and played a large role in spearheading discussion in the council around marijuana legislation.

When asked how she would differ from Grosso, Henderson proposes taking harder looks at the state of overcrowding in D.C. hospitals. She also said the council needs to recognize the intersections between housing and healthcare that can be barriers for D.C. families.

“Equitable growth, development, housing; we’ve got a lot of cranes in the sky but they’re concentrated in certain parts of the city, and I don’t think everyone is benefiting from these new investments,” she says. “There are tools available that we haven’t used, a little political imagination.”

Previously:
At-Large Councilmember David Grosso Isn’t Running For Reelection
State Board Of Education VP Markus Batchelor Will Run For At-Large Council Seat