Major Female D.C. Government Elected Officials

By: Miriam Edelman

Women have helped lead D.C. for the past several decades. During most of the time since D.C. gained limited home rule, women have held at least one of the following city-wide elected offices: D.C. Mayor, D.C. Council Chair, and At-Large D.C. Councilmember. During Council Period (2021-2022), women held a majority, four of the six positions; they were Mayor and three of the four At -Large D.C. Councilmembers. In addition, the D.C. Council has been majority female multiple times. Furthermore, a female has been D.C.’s sole Member of Congress for the past few decades. This piece follows up on DCNOW’s blog post, entitled “Some of D.C.’s Renovated Call Boxes Honor Women.” That piece ended with “Let’s honor even more women when renovating call boxes. Future honorees could include some of D.C.’s female elected officials.”

D.C. is treated as a state in over 500 laws, but D.C. is not a state. However, if D.C. were a state, it would have made history regarding females and elected leadership:

-          It would be the only state to have had an African-American female top executive (Mayor). In fact, D.C. has had two.

-          It would be the first state to have a legislature to be mainly female. The D.C. Council was majority female long before Nevada became the first state to have a majority-female legislature in 2019.

-          It also would be the first state to have an African-American female lead a legislative chamber. Linda Cropp was D.C. Council Chair before Karen Bass became the first African-American Speaker of a state legislature in 2008.

Mayor

Two of D.C.’s eight Mayors of the District of Columbia since 1975, during D.C.’ current era of home rule, have been women. Between 1991 and 1995, Sharon Pratt was Mayor for one term. She was the first African-American female Mayor of a major city in the United States. D.C.’s current three-term Mayor Muriel Bowser has been Mayor since 2015. According to D.C. government, Bowser “is the first African American woman to be elected to three, four-year terms as mayor of an American city.”

D.C. Council Chair

Linda Cropp (1997-2007) was the only female D.C. Council Chair of the eight D.C. Council Chairs. Before assuming the top D.C. Council position, she was an At-Large D.C. Councilmember.

At-Large D.C. Councilmember

Of the 24 At-Large D.C. Councilmembers, the following seven are female: Hilda Mason (1977-1999), Betty Ann Kane (1979-1991), Carol Schwartz (1985-1989, 1997-2009), Linda Cropp (1991-1997) (She later became D.C. Council Chair.), Anita Bonds (2012-Present), Elissa Silverman (2015-2023), and Christina Henderson (2021-Present). Bonds is the longest-serving current At-Large D.C Councilmember.

D.C. Council Members Representing Wards

There have also been multiple female D.C. Councilmembers representing wards throughout the District of Columbia. Only one ward, ward 5, has not yet had a woman D.C. Councilmember. Wards 3, 4, 6, and 8 each have had at least two female D.C. Councilmembers.

Member of Congress

Since 1991, Washington, D.C.’s sole Member of Congress (a non-voting delegate) has been Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). Although Norton has never been a voting Members, she consistently is ranked among the most effective Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Final Thoughts

Some people would like head-of-household voting, which would limit voting to a single head of household, usually a male. D.C.’s women leaders show that women are central to public life and expose the absurdity of head-of-household voting.