The District of Columbia's at-large congressional district is a congressional district encompassing all of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. Article One of the United States Constitution instructs that only "States" may be represented in the United States Congress. Because the District of Columbia does not meet that criterion, the member elected from the at-large district is not permitted to participate in votes on the floor of the House. Instead, constituents of the seat elect a non-voting delegate to the chamber. Though the delegate lacks full voting privileges, they are permitted to sit on, cast votes in, and chair congressional committees and subcommittees. The delegate may also join party caucuses, introduce legislation, and hire staff to assist with constituent services.
The posts of shadow United States senator and shadow United States representative are held by elected or appointed government officials from subnational polities of the United States that lack congressional vote. While these officials are not seated in either chamber of Congress, they seek recognition for their subnational polity, up to full statehood. This would enfranchise them with full voting rights on the floor of the US House and Senate, alongside existing states. As of 2021, only the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico currently have authorized shadow delegations to Congress.
The flag of Washington D.C. consists of three red stars above two red bars on a white background. It is an armorial banner based on the coat of arms granted to Lawrence Washington of Sulgrave Manor Northamptonshire, England, in 1592. This coat of arms was used privately by the president in his home at Mount Vernon. In heraldry, the stars are called mullets and the coat of arms is blazoned as argent two bars gules, in chief three mullets of the second.
The District of Columbia statehood movement is a political movement that advocates making the District of Columbia a U.S. state, to provide the residents of the District of Columbia with voting representation in the Congress and complete control over local affairs.
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a United States federal law passed on December 24, 1973, which devolved certain congressional powers of the District of Columbia to local government, furthering District of Columbia home rule. In particular, it includes the District Charter, which provides for an elected mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia. The council is composed of a chair elected at large and twelve members, four of whom are elected at large, and one from each of the District's eight wards. Council members are elected to four-year terms.
District of Columbia home rule is the District of Columbia residents' ability to govern their local affairs. As the federal capital, the Constitution grants the United States Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District in "all cases whatsoever".
Voting rights of citizens in the District of Columbia differ from the rights of citizens in the 50 U.S. states. The United States Constitution grants each state voting representation in both houses of the United States Congress. It defines the federal district as being outside of any state, and does not grant it any voting representation in Congress. The Constitution grants Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District in "all cases whatsoever".
District of Columbia retrocession is the act of returning some or all of the land that had been ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district for the new national capital, which was moved from Philadelphia to what was then called the City of Washington in 1800. The land was originally ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland in 1790. After moving through various stages of federal and state approval, the Virginia portion was returned in March 1847.
The D.C. Statehood Green Party, known as the DC Statehood Party prior to 1999, is a green progressive political party in the District of Columbia. The party is the D.C. affiliate of the national Green Party but has traditionally elevated issues of District of Columbia statehood movement as its primary focus. Party members refer to the Statehood Green Party as the second most popular party in the District because, historically, STG candidates win the second highest vote totals in the city, ahead of the Republican Party but behind the Democratic Party. As of February 2023, there are approximately 4,140 voters registered in the Statehood Green Party, or 0.79% of registered voters in the city.
Paul Eric Strauss is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States shadow senator from the District of Columbia since 1997. He succeeded Jesse Jackson, the first person to hold the elected position of a shadow senator for Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The District of Columbia holds general elections every two years to fill various D.C. government offices, including mayor, attorney general, members of the D.C. Council, members of the D.C. State Board of Education, and members of its Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Additionally, citywide ballot measures may be proposed and voted on.
The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.
The District of Columbia Democratic State Committee is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the District of Columbia.
Franklin Garcia is an American politician and three-term shadow member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the District of Columbia, serving from January 2015 to 2021. In 2020, he declined to run for a fourth term as shadow representative in favor of an unsuccessful D.C. Council run. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
A referendum on statehood for the District of Columbia was held on November 8, 2016. It was the first referendum on statehood to be held in the district. The District of Columbia was created following the passage of the Residence Act on July 9, 1790, which approved the creation of a national capital, the City of Washington on the Potomac River.
The 2012 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia took place on November 6, 2012, to elect a shadow member to the United States Senate to represent the District of Columbia. The member was only recognized by the District of Columbia and not officially sworn or seated by the United States Senate. Incumbent Michael D. Brown was re-elected to a second term.
The Washington, D.C., Admission Act, often referred to simply as the D.C. Admission Act, is a bill introduced during the 116th United States Congress. The bill would grant Washington, D.C., admission into the Union as a state. The bill was originally introduced in the 116th Congress on January 3, 2019, and was reintroduced on January 4, 2021, and January 9, 2023, in the 117th and 118th Congresses. The United States House of Representatives passed it on April 22, 2021.
Anise Jenkins is an American activist in the Statehood movement in the District of Columbia and serves as the executive director of Stand Up! for Democracy in DC.
The 1990 United States Shadow Senator election in the District of Columbia took place on November 6, 1990, to elect two shadow members to the United States Senate to represent the District of Columbia. The members were only recognized by the District of Columbia and not officially sworn or seated by the United States Senate.
