Skip to main contentSee how your
Statehood runs through
View all →
Capital Rights Lab
★ Donate ★☰Make DCa State.
700,000 Americans call DC home and pay more federal taxes per capita than any state, but have no voting representation in Congress. Statehood provides the voice all Americans deserve. Tell your representatives to back it.
By the numbers
The Impact Bar
702,250
Disenfranchised DC Residents
DC residents with zero votes in the Senate. More than Wyoming. More than Vermont.
U.S. Census Bureau · 2024 estimate
$45B
Federal Taxes Paid Annually
Paid by DC every year. More than 26 states pay.
IRS Data Book · FY 2024
86%
Voted Yes
86% of DC citizens voted yes to statehood in the 2016 referendum.
DC Statehood Referendum · 2016
Your State
See how your
state lines up
with DC
Pick your state. See what DC residents pay in federal taxes that your senators vote on, and what DC doesn’t get back. More taxes paid than 26 states. More residents than Wyoming or Vermont. Zero voting senators.
DC vs Your State
Detecting…
Change
IRS Data Book · FY 2024 · U.S. Census · 2024
The Record
DC has won before. And we will win again.
Every right DC has, DC organized for. The work is unfinished, and the people of DC refuse to quit.
- 23RD AMENDMENT · 1961 · DC wins the presidential vote
- HOME RULE ACT · 1973 · first elected mayor in a century
- DC VOTING RIGHTS AMENDMENT · 1978 · passed Congress, failed in the states
- HOUSE VOTES FOR STATEHOOD · 2020 & 2021 · historic first, twice · no votes in Congress
Timeline · 1801–2026
One City.
225 Years.
225 Years.
1801
Organic Act · DC residents lose their vote in Congress
1867
Black men win the vote in DC, before the 15th Amendment
1961
23rd Amendment · DC wins the right to vote for president
1973
Home Rule Act · DC wins back an elected mayor and council
1978
Voting Rights Amendment · full representation passes Congress
2021
House votes to admit DC as the 51st state, for the second time
2026
The 51st push · you are here
1801 → 2026
The Case
Statehood runs through
the States.
Admission takes an act of Congress and the people of DC cannot vote themselves into the Union.
“New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union.”U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3 · The Admissions Clause
Our Work
Tennessee's History Makes the Case for DC Statehood
Tennessee didn't wait for statehood. Why should DC have to? Published in The Tennessean, Tennessee's largest newspaper.
Read the op-ed →
DC Looks to Alaska's Statehood Fight as America Turns 250
Making the case for DC statehood in the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska's largest newspaper.
Read the op-ed →
DC's Public Financing Program Is Broken
Published in The 51st. Democracy vouchers can fix DC campaign finance and make the case for expanded representation.
Read the op-ed →
DC Council · Initiative 83 Open Primaries
Democracy begins in the District, and open primaries bolster the national case for expanded representation.
Watch testimony →
Governing the Seat, Not the City
95 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo. Congress has broad power over DC, but it is not unlimited. The constitutional case for a Bifurcation Test to cabin plenary power.
Read the paper →
DC Council · Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety
Strategies to protect DC's authority over its own public safety after the 2025 federal MPD takeover under § 740.
Read testimony →
Skip to main contentSee how your state
Statehood runs through
Capital Rights Lab
Donate☰Make DCa State.
700,000 Americans call DC home and pay more federal taxes per capita than any state, but have no voting representation in Congress. Statehood provides the voice all Americans deserve. Tell your representatives to back it.
By the numbers
Impact Bar
702,250
Disenfranchised DC Residents
DC residents with zero votes in the Senate. More than Wyoming. More than Vermont.
U.S. Census Bureau · 2024 estimate
$45B
Federal Taxes Paid Annually
Paid by DC every year. More than 26 states pay.
IRS Data Book · FY 2024
86%
Voted Yes
86% of DC citizens voted yes to statehood in the 2016 referendum.
DC Statehood Referendum · 2016
Your State
See how your state
lines up with DC
Pick your state. See what DC residents pay in federal taxes that your senators vote on, and what DC doesn’t get back. More than 26 states. Zero voting senators.
DC vs Your State
Detecting…
Change
IRS Data Book · FY 2024 · U.S. Census · 2024
The Record
DC has won before. And we will win again.
Every right DC has, DC organized for. The work is unfinished, and the people of DC refuse to quit.
- 23RD AMENDMENT · 1961 · DC wins the presidential vote
- HOME RULE ACT · 1973 · first elected mayor in a century
- DC VOTING RIGHTS AMENDMENT · 1978 · passed Congress, failed in the states
- HOUSE VOTES FOR STATEHOOD · 2020 & 2021 · historic first, twice · no votes in Congress
One City.
225 Years.
225 Years.
1801
Organic Act · DC residents lose their vote in Congress
1867
Black men win the vote in DC, before the 15th Amendment
1961
23rd Amendment · DC wins the right to vote for president
1973
Home Rule Act · DC wins back an elected mayor and council
1978
Voting Rights Amendment · full representation passes Congress
2021
House votes to admit DC as the 51st state, for the second time
2026
The 51st push · you are here
1801 → 2026
The Case
Statehood runs through
the States.
Admission takes an act of Congress and the people of DC cannot vote themselves into the Union.
“New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union.”U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3 · The Admissions Clause
Our Work
Tennessee's History Makes the Case for DC Statehood
Tennessee didn't wait for statehood. Why should DC have to? Published in The Tennessean, Tennessee's largest newspaper.
Read the op-ed →
DC Looks to Alaska's Statehood Fight as America Turns 250
Making the case for DC statehood in the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska's largest newspaper.
Read the op-ed →
DC's Public Financing Program Is Broken
Published in The 51st. Democracy vouchers can fix DC campaign finance and make the case for expanded representation.
Read the op-ed →
DC Council · Initiative 83 Open Primaries
Democracy begins in the District, and open primaries bolster the national case for expanded representation.
Watch testimony →
Governing the Seat, Not the City
95 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo. Congress has broad power over DC, but it is not unlimited. The constitutional case for a Bifurcation Test to cabin plenary power.
Read the paper →
DC Council · Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety
Strategies to protect DC's authority over its own public safety after the 2025 federal MPD takeover under § 740.
Read testimony →