Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has been admitted into the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) amid a Democratic push to turn the nation’s capital into a state.
The move comes about a week after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he does not support legislation the House passed to admit D.C. into the union, dealing the prospects of D.C. statehood a devastating blow.
Bowser first made the announcement in a joint interview with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), the chairwoman of the DGA, on Wednesday.
Grisham said that while Bowser isn’t a governor, she is an “executive leader” who is “working on all of the things that Democratic governors are responsible” for, from fighting the coronavirus pandemic to protecting voting rights.
“This partnership is an incredible announcement to really reinforce that’s what we’re dedicated to and that’s what we are about,” Grisham said.
The House passed a bill along party lines last month to make D.C. a state, the second time in two years the House passed such legislation.
Advocates say that the city’s roughly 700,000 citizens, mostly Black Americans, deserve equal representation. Republicans have fought against D.C. statehood, arguing that it was a chance for Democrats to tip the evenly divided Senate in their favor.
However, Manchin said during a radio interview last Friday that he felt a constitutional amendment should be proposed to allow D.C. to become a state.
The measure already faced an uphill battle in the Senate before Manchin’s remarks. Several key senators, including Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Angus King (I-Maine), had not signed on to Sen. Tom Carper’s (D-Del.) effort for D.C. statehood in the Senate.
Despite the challenges, Bowser expressed confidence that D.C. would become a state, touting support from the White House and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“The president of the United States has issued a very strong statement supporting statehood for D.C. Sen. Schumer has been very strong in his support for D.C. statehood,” Bowser said. “So we know they’re going to work with Sen. Manchin and others so that this is an issue that’s finally resolved, a wrong that is finally righted in our democracy.”