By: Miriam Edelman Senator Darline Graham (DG) (R-SC) took office on July 14, 2026. DG replaced her late brother, long-time Senator Lindsey Graham (LG) (R-SC), who died on July 11, 2026, days after turning 71 years old. The swearing in of DG means that there are a record 27 female Senators, exceeding the 2020 record of 26 female Senators. DG is South Carolina’s first female Senator and the first sibling to replace a deceased Senator in U.S. history. Of the 65 (almost a third

For decades, D.C. has utilized “Taxation without representation” as a slogan, raising awareness of D.C.’s disenfranchisement. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog piece entitled “Happy 250th, USA.” License Plates In 2000, D.C. began putting “Taxation Without Representation” on its license plates, replacing the old motto “Celebrate and Discover”. The lettering and the red, white, and blue colors of D.C.’s license plates remained. In 2021, The Washington Post began its pie

By: Miriam Edelman The United States turns a consequential 250 years old today (July 4, 2026). Our nation is officially a quarter of a millennium old. As I reflect on the historic nature of today, I think about the following recent question of civil rights leader Wade Henderson: “As America marks its semiquincentennial in 2026, we should ask a simple question: How can the world’s leading democracy justify denying full democratic rights to more than 700,000 of its own citize

By: Miriam Edelman Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. – DCNOW congratulates all of its endorsed D.C. Council candidates on their special election and their primary election victories. The primary election winners will be advancing to the November 3, 2026, general election. DCNOW announces that it is making an additional general election endorsement. The June 2026 special election and primary elections were the first time that D.C. used ranked-choice voting (RCV). In RCV electio

By: Miriam Edelman As the U.S. will turn 250 years old very soon, celebrating a milestone anniversary of the colonies gaining independence and forming our country, I think about the original 13 colonies and the colonists. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services describes the creation of the U.S.: “Each colony had its own government, but the British king controlled these governments. By the 1770s, many colonists were angry because they did not have self-government. Thi

By: Miriam Edelman Home rule and statehood for the District of Columbia are frequently discussed together, but they are not the same. D.C. does not have either, as it has limited home rule and is not a state (although it is “treated as a state in more than 500 federal laws”). Some of DCNOW’s previous blog posts have discussed home rule and/or statehood. Home Rule Home rule is the ability of D.C.’s elected government to be in charge of D.C. If D.C. were to have true home rul

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