DC Rep Says Hillary Wants To Make DC The 51st State

After speaking with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, D.C.’s Delegate to Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton said she got Clinton’s personal support for the D.C. statehood movement.

Norton had been following Clinton to various Capitol Hill Meetings and after the pair left a Congressional Black Caucus meeting, Norton popped the D.C. statehood question. A spokesman for Hillary Clinton did not immediately return a request for confirmation of Clinton’s support for D.C. statehood.

In June, Norton, along with Democratic colleagues in the Senate, introduced legislation that would turn the district into the 51st state and give residents a real voice in Congress.

Currently, the district has a similar position in Congress to Puerto Rico, with Norton serving as a non-voting delegate. Norton is not allowed to vote on the House floor, but she can introduce legislation and serve on committees.

The issue, according to Norton, is that D.C. residents pay taxes just like everybody else in America, but they do not have a real say in how that money is spent by Congress. In a statement, Norton said she has known Clinton since her husband was in the White House, so she was not surprised by Clinton’s support for D.C. statehood.

“President Bill Clinton was the first president to support statehood for the District of Columbia, and President Obama has followed in endorsing D.C. statehood,” Norton said. “President Clinton made phone calls that helped get Democrats to support my statehood bill when I first came to Congress.”

President Barack Obama joined the fight for D.C. statehood last year during a town hall meeting when an audience member asked him about the movement.

“I’m in D.C., so I’m for it,” he said. “It’s not as if Washington, D.C. is not big enough compared to other states.”

With roughly 650,000 residents in the city, D.C. is on par with states like Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota and Alaska, which have populations between 570,000 and 730,000, and each posses one vote in the House.

It’s no surprise Obama and other Democrats want to see D.C. become a new state. 75 percent of registered voters in the city are Democrats, with Republicans at just 6 percent, right behind “No Party,” which has slightly more than 17 percent.

If D.C. were to become a state, Democrats would most certainly pick up two new Senate seats and another House seat, and hold them indefinitely.

Follow Josh on Twitter