District of Columbia's at-large congressional district

History of the office

The office of delegate from the District of Columbia was initially established by Radical Republicans during the Reconstruction era. From 1871 to 1875, it was held by Norton P. Chipman, a Republican who had been appointed the first secretary of the District of Columbia by President Ulysses S. Grant. The position was abolished in 1875 and remained nonexistent for 96 years.

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During the mid-20th century, there was a renewed push to extend greater voting rights to residents of Washington, D.C. By 1961, the necessary 37 states had successfully ratified the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, which extended the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections. Still, there remained bipartisan agreement that the District of Columbia – which in 1970 had more residents than 10 individual states — deserved at least some representation in the U.S. Congress.

Federal legislation to recreate a congressional delegate position for D.C. was first seriously debated by Congress in 1970. President Richard Nixon had repeatedly expressed his support for full voting representation for the District of Columbia. An initial proposal by Rep. Earle Cabell (D–TX) suggested creating two non-voting delegate positions for D.C.: one for the House and one for the Senate. Concerns that the Senate would stall such a proposal spurred the consideration of a compromise bill introduced by Rep. Ancher Nelsen (R–MN), who at the time served as ranking member of the House Committee on the District of Columbia. Nelsen's proposal guaranteed non-voting representation only in the House.

In a written message to House Minority Leader Gerald Ford on August 6, 1970, Nixon reaffirmed that "voting representation for the District of Columbia is my goal" and strongly urged Ford to press for the bill's passage. Ford and House Majority Leader Carl Albert both crafted messages to their respective caucuses in response, encouraging their members to support the measure. During closing arguments on the House floor, two representatives made particularly passionate pleas on the capital city's behalf. The first came from Rep. John Conyers (D–MI), who decried the "rank hypocrisy" of denying "a voice in our Government to the people who live closest to it." The second came from Rep. Michael J. Harrington (D–MA), who noted the lack of attention shown by the Congress to Washington:

Opposition to the legislation was largely spearheaded by Rep. John L. McMillan (D–SC), the segregationist chairman of the House Committee on the District of Columbia. As chairman, McMillan repeatedly opposed home rule and greater rights for residents of D.C., largely because of its sizable Black population. The bill ultimately passed the House with 302 votes in favor and 57 votes against. The "nay" votes came predominately from Southerners. On September 9, 1970, the legislation passed the Senate. President Nixon, who called the District's lack of voting rights "one of the truly unacceptable facts of American life," signed the District of Columbia Delegate Act 13 days later.

The first election for the seat was held on March 23, 1971. Democrat Walter Fauntroy won the race and went on to serve in the Congress for nearly 20 years. A week after being sworn in, Fauntroy became one of the 13 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

A further effort to grant the District of Columbia full voting rights in Congress via a constitutional amendment came in 1978. The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment passed both chambers of Congress, but it failed to receive the necessary number of state ratifications by its 1985 deadline. Reflecting increased political polarization, efforts to secure D.C. further voting rights since have largely failed along party lines.

Since 1993, when the House of Representatives has been under Democratic control, delegates, including the District of Columbia's delegate, have been allowed to cast non-binding floor votes when the House of Representatives was operating in the Committee of the Whole.

The district has been represented by Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton since 1991.

List of delegates representing the district

Election results

1870s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Notes

References

References

1. "My Congressional District".
2. "Congressional Record". United States Government Publishing Office.
3. (September 16, 1970). "D.C. Delegate". The New York Times.
4. The practice began with the 103rd Congress, but was revoked when the Republicans retook the House for the 104th Congress. Democrats reinstated the practice in the 110th Congress, but Republicans again revoked it in the 112th Congress.
5. Portnoy, Jenna. (January 3, 2017). "Republican-led Congress denies D.C. delegate a vote. Again.". The Washington Post.
6. Gibbs, C. R.. (March 2, 1989). "The District Had a Voice, if Not a Vote, in the 42nd Congress". The Washington Post.
7. (Apr 20, 1871). "The Washington Election". The Baltimore Sun.
8. Gibbs, C. R.. (March 2, 1989). "The District Had a Voice, if Not a Vote, in the 42nd Congress". The Washington Post.
9. (April 6, 1971). "Fauntroy Election Certified". The Washington Post.
10. "General Election 2016 – Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections.
11. "General Election 2018 — Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections.
12. "General Election 2020 – Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections.
13. (2022-11-30). "General Election 2022 – Certified Results". [[District of Columbia Board of Elections]].
14. (2024-12-02). "General Election 2024 – Certified Results". [[District of Columbia Board of Elections]].
15. "DCBOE Election Results".