The people of Washington D.C first got representation in the electoral college in 1964. Fast forward to 2021, Washington D.C’s population is around 700K, making it’s population higher than the state of Wyoming. While D.C does not lack representation in the electoral college, the implications of it not being a state in the congressional level is quite clear. In the House of Representatives, D.C has no house members that can vote, though the people of Washington D.C can elect non-voting delegates. In the Senate, D.C has no representation at all. Furthering the case for D.C to be a state is that it has a higher GDP than 17 other states. The only thing that stands in the way of making D.C a state are senators. Let me tell you how.
The bill to make DC a state has already passed in the house, so the only thing left is to clear 50 votes in the Senate. But the problem is that Republicans and maybe a few Democrats are going to be hell-bent on opposing it. Let’s start with the Republicans. The reason I say there is a 0% chance that Republicans will ever vote for DC to become a state is because it is the most Democratic place in the country. Every single time since 1964, It has voted for Democrats by landslide margins. In fact the closest margin between Democrats and Republicans in 56 years of D.C voting was roughly 57 points in 1972. This is why Republicans can be sure that DC will vote Democrat in every single House and Senate election in the state , which will set back McCarthy’s and McConnells chances of taking back the House and Senate respectively.
Now let’s get to the Democrats. You might be thinking, “Well why would any of this matter if Democrats have their 50 votes. Well, the only reason it matters is because of one name- Joe Manchin. Joe Manchin is a Democratic senator from the state of West Virginia and is easily the most conservative Democrat in the union. He will likely oppose the vote because he comes from one of the most Republican states in the country. In 2020 Trump carried West Virginia by almost 39 points and took every single county. So the point I’m trying to make is that in the near future D.C statehood is bound to fail in the senate because all Republicans – and maybe even a few Democrats will oppose it.