By: Miriam Edelman Pride celebrations in the District of Columbia just celebrated their 51st anniversary in June 2026. As of January 2024, D.C., which Mayor Muriel Bowser had called “the gayest city in the world,” is the home of the greatest percent of LGBT residents in the United States. A report of the Williams Institute of the University of California Law School in Lost Angeles stated that 14.5 percent of D.C.’s adult population is LGBT, almost double the percent of the L

By: Miriam Edelman Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19th), which celebrates the termination of slavery, marks the day African-Americans in Texas were notified of their freedom. The Day has been linked to support for statehood for Washington, D.C. Many people in Texas had not known about the Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in confederate states in 1863 until more than two years later because Texas was isolated. Juneteenth is also known as Emancipation Day

By: Miriam Edelman The District of Columbia metropolitan area’s Metro Rail system turned 50 years old on March 27, 1976. During the past half century, people have made over seven billion trips on Metro, part of the 15 billion trips on Metro, Metro Bus, and Metro Access combined. During Metro’s history, Metro expanded immensely. When Metro started service on March 27, 1976, there were just five stops between Rhode Island Avenue and Farragut North on the Red Line, which was 4

By: Miriam Edelman President Donald Trump continues to interfere with Washington, D.C. This time, on June 11, 2026, less than a week before D.C.’s 2026 elections and after some D.C. residents have already voted, Trump threatened to take over D.C. if top Mayoral candidate D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, a Democratic socialist, wins D.C.’s June 16, 2026, primary election. Although Trump has been overly focused on the District of Columbia, he had not made any comments o

By: Miriam Edelman King Charles III recently made history by becoming the first King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to address a joint session of Congress. When he spoke in the chamber of the House of Representatives on April 28, 2026, he was the second British monarch, the first one being his mother Queen Elizabeth II on May 16, 1991, and the 11th King or Queen to address Congress. This Congressional speech was part of a four-day state visit

By: Miriam Edelman Press Release WASHINGTON – In 2026, DCNOW became an inaugural steering committee member of the new Together for DC campaign, which launched on June 5, 2026. Together for DC is a District of Columbia-based initiative that activates Americans outside of D.C. for D.C. statehood and defends D.C. from federal government micromanagement. As DCNOW wrote in its blog piece, entitled “Non-D.C. Residents Are Especially Needed for D.C. Statehood,” “Residents around the

By: Miriam Edelman DCNOW mourns former D.C. Shadow Senator Jesse Jackson. On February 17, 2026, Jackson died in Chicago at age 84. The civil rights icon had battled progressive supranuclear palsy, a severe neurodegenerative condition. Upon Jackson’s death, The New York Times referred to Jackson as “the nation’s most influential Black figure in the years between the civil rights crusades of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the election of Barack Obama” although it noted

By: Miriam Edelman Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. – DCNOW, which endorses candidates to local office in Washington, D.C., announces its endorsements in many local races on June 16, 2026. The local races are of D.C.’s special election (D.C. Council At-Large, non-majority party) and primary elections (Mayor; Attorney General; and D.C. Council: Chair, D.C. Council At-Large, and wards One, Three, Five, and Six). The winner of the special election will serve for the rest of the cu

By: Miriam Edelman DCNOW is pleased that later in 2026, D.C. will use ranked choice voting (RCV) in its elections for the first time. DCNOW’s blog has multiple pieces about RCV in the nation’s capital. This piece reviews some key points from DCNOW’s blog piece, entitled “Overview of Ranked Choice Voting (Ranked Choice Voting Part One),” before discussing how D.C.’s new RCV works. Review of Ranked Choice Voting Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), also known as Alternative Vote, is a

By: Miriam Edelman Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), is retiring from Congress. Not surprisingly, Norton’s retirement announcement was met with warm tributes from Members of Congress, major D.C. government officials, and many others. Some of the tributes call for statehood for our nation’s capital. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog pieces, entitled “DCNOW Thanks Civil and D.C. Rights Icon, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for Her Decades of Leadership” and “Retiring De

By: Miriam Edelman Retiring Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has been an extremely effective Member of Congress despite not having a vote. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog’s piece, entitled “DCNOW Thanks Civil and D.C. Rights Icon, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for Her Decades of Leadership.” Sheila Bunn, who was Norton’s Chief of Staff, credits Norton’s confidence with Norton’s success. Bunn said: “There’s no fear with her when it comes to talking to other members of C

By: Miriam Edelman Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), is retiring from Congress. On January 25, 2026, she filed a report to terminate her reelection campaign, ending her decades-long Congressional career. On January 27th, her office issued a press release, entitled “Norton Announces Retirement at End of Term.” That release quotes Norton: “I've had the privilege of representing the District of Columbia in Congress since 1991. Time and again, D.C. residents entrusted me to

By: Miriam Edelman Women’s History Month occurs every March. In honor of the nation’s upcoming 250 th birthday, DCNOW highlights women who have made political history in the U.S. while discussing other notable points of women’s political history in our nation. Several women were elected before women gained the right to vote, but much of the women’s political history has been made during the past 40 years. This piece is not all-inclusive. It does not state all women who ma

By: Miriam Edelman In honor of the upcoming National Cherry Blossom Festival (March 20 – April 12, 2026), DCNOW created some haikus about the unjust status of the District of Columbia. A haiku is a three-lined Japanese poem. While its first and third lines have five syllables, the second line has seven syllables. The annual festival commemorates Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki’s gift of 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, D.C., in 1912. The States formed partly due to taxation wit

By: Miriam Edelman February 27, 2026, was the 225 th anniversary of the approval of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 (the Act). DCNOW’s blog’s piece, entitled “Presidents’ Day is Reminder of Prior Strong Bipartisan Support for D.C. Residents,” mentioned the Act, which forever changed Washington, D.C. Through the Act, the federal government gained control of the District of Columbia. The Act stripped the area’s residents of their righ

By: Miriam Edelman DCNOW congratulates new D.C. Councilmember Doni Crawford. The D.C. Council appointed her to replace former Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, whose term will end in January 2027. Crawford’s service on the Council means that three of the six women on the D.C. Council serve in at-large positions. On January 5, 2026, McDuffie resigned presumably so he could run for Mayor as a Democrat. In December 2025, when he announced he would resign from the Council,

By: Miriam Edelman In honor of Black History Month, which occurs every February, DCNOW would like to highlight how the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) have led the way regarding African-American leadership. In 1976, President Gerald Ford became the first President to issue a statement recognizing this month. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog’s piece, entitled “Top Female Leaders of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia Make History.” Al

By: Miriam Edelman In the late 2000s, some D.C. leaders and Members of Congress across the political spectrum supported legislation, such as H.R. 1905 – District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2007, that would have given the District of Columbia and Utah each a vote in the House of Representatives. However, such compromise legislation would not have affected the Senate. DCNOW’s blog piece, entitled “D.C.’s Centuries-Long Disenfranchisement Is Unfair,” is about that legis

By: Miriam Edelman For the first time in history, four of the top five executive branch leaders of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) are women. The November 2025 elections increased the number of women in these top three roles from three to four. Since Virginia inaugurated its Governor and Lieutenant Governor on January 17, 2026, D.C.’s Mayor, Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor, Virginia’s Governor, and Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor are women. A

By: Miriam Edelman As the U.S. just had off-year elections in November 2025, election winners are taking office. When many people become government officials, they swear an oath to the U.S. Constitution. This post follows up on DCNOW’s blog piece, entitled “DCNOW Congratulates Women Who Made History in Recent Elections.” One of the winners in the earlier article is Kaoly Her, the first female Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota. At Her’s inaugural swearing-in ceremony on Januar