There are two states (Vermont and Wyoming) that have populations that are smaller than the District of Columbia yet they have full representation in Congress and control over their own local affairs. The District’s population is also comparable to other States including Delaware, Alaska, and several others.

"This is what I've heard from D.C. residents all over the city. ... They want to be treated like every American. They want two senators," Bowser told the Post. "We need equality, and the only way to get there is with statehood.

Now that it has passed, the petition will go to Congress, which has the power to permit or deny it. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told the Washington Post she would move quickly and deliver a petition for D.C. statehood to the president-elect and congressional leaders by Inauguration Day.

79 percent of voters cast votes in favor of the ballot measure , which splits the district into a residential state with a small federal district in the middle of it for government buildings and monuments, as we have reported .

Political support (from Wikepedia)

Political support (from Wikepedia)

​Leading supporters of DC Statehood include most of the organizations that led the civil and voting rights movement of the 1960s. It is viewed as the logical extension of the expansion of voting rights that has occurred over the course of American history. Democrats are thought to favor statehood over retrocession, as it would most likely add new Democratic seats in the United States Senate. Some Republicans, in turn, have opposed enfranchisement for the American citizens in DC based on the expected political disadvantage to them.[38] Neither statehood nor retrocession are top priorities by Democrats and Republicans.[38][39]

Civil rights, religious and labor organizations

Religious groups supporting DC statehood include the American Jewish Committee, the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Statehood is a cause for many labor and civil rights groups including American Federation of Teachers, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National Treasury Employees Union, National Urban League, and SEIU.

Statehood is also supported by "good government" organizations such as the League of Women Voters and Common Cause.[40]

Democrats

Recent Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have expressed support for statehood, as well as Democratic 2016 Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders[41] - a co-sponsor of the 2015 New Columbia Admission Act, and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley.[42] Maryland's Senators, Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, both Democrats, are co-sponsors of a September 2014 D.C. statehood bill.[38][39]

Republicans

The D.C. Republican Party has been a long standing supporter of voting rights for the District of Columbia.[43] However, nationally based Republicans have often been steadfast in their opposition to D.C. statehood.[44]

License plates

In November 2000, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles began issuing license plates bearing the slogan "Taxation without representation".[45] President Bill Clinton had these plates placed on the presidential limousines shortly before the end of his second term. However, President George W. Bush, in one of his first official acts as president, had the plates removed.[46] The usage of "taxation without representation" plates was announced to be restored by President Barack Obama shortly before his second-term inauguration.[47]

Polling

A September 2014 poll found that 49% of Americans opposed DC Statehood, while only 27% supported it. 53% of Independents and 67% of Republicans opposed it, but only 33% of Democrats did. However when asked if DC should be represented as voters in other states are, by a voting Representative and two Senators 37% said yes and 31% said no.[48] Other polling from the 1990s showed stronger support. A 1999 poll showed that 46% of Americans would support statehood.[49]