America Votes

D.C. Democrats Vote As Leaders Push For Equal Representation

Washington, D.C., has one of the highest federal tax rates per capita, but it doesn't have voting representation in the House or Senate.

D.C. Democrats Vote As Leaders Push For Equal Representation
Getty / Aaron P. Bernstein
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"What is most frustrating to me as the member who represents this city in the Congress is that most Americans think we have the same rights they do," said U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

D.C. Democrats voted in their primary Tuesday. It's the last one of the 2016 elections.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders called for D.C.'s statehood before the primary.

Vermont and Wyoming have smaller populations than D.C. 

And D.C. has one of the highest rates of federal tax per capita.

But D.C. isn't a state, so it doesn't have voting representation in the House or Senate.

"When matters go to the floor of the House of Representatives — even matters that I have led in committee where I can vote, even matters solely about the District of Columbia — everyone in this House ... can vote on that matter except, of course, the member who represents the District of Columbia," Holmes Norton said. 

D.C.'s mayor called for a citywide vote on statehood in November to try to push the issue before Congress.

This video includes clips from Bernie 2016 and images from Getty Images. Music provided courtesy of APM Music.