Major Presidential Candidate Calls For DC Statehood

WASHINGTON, DC -- D.C. statehood now has another high-profile advocate. This time, it's top Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Just a couple of weeks after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez signed on to a D.C. statehood bill, Warren tweeted that despite having a higher population than Wyoming or Vermont, D.C. residents don't have a voice in government.

She urged her followers to sign a petition to make D.C. the 51st state.

700,000 people is more than the populations of Wyoming or Vermont. But DC residents don’t have an equal voice in our government – despite paying federal taxes. Sign our petition if you agree we need to make DC the 51st state: https://t.co/NUIIRWVXNB https://t.co/MzhHJU3zA4
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 29, 2019

Although the bill stands zero chance of passage with a Republican Senate and president, it could go further than ever with Democrats in the House majority, and DCist reports that Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings has promised the bill would get a hearing and markup. It may even get a floor vote.

Republicans are opposed to D.C. statehood because it would result in, most likely, two guaranteed Democratic U.S. Senators, as well as a member of Congress. They have argued instead that D.C. should stay the way it is, without voting representation, or that it be absorbed into Maryland, which is already heavily Democratic.

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Senator Paul Strauss and actor Jonathan Banks attend The Creative Coalition DC Statehood Dinner on December 5, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images for The Creative Coalition)