WASHINGTON, D.C. — Robert White, who won the race Tuesday for the nonvoting House seat representing Washington, D.C., says his first job in Congress will be persuading fellow Democrats that D.C. statehood deserves a spot near the top of their agenda.
White, 44, grew up in Washington and once worked as legislative counsel for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is retiring after holding the seat since 1991. He will be sworn in Jan. 3 and will be only the third person to serve as delegate in modern times, following Norton and Walter Fauntroy, who held it from 1971 to 1991.
To run, White had to leave his at-large seat on the D.C. Council. Federal law bars a delegate candidate from holding another paid public office on Election Day, so he stepped down Monday. The D.C. Democratic State Committee will name an interim member until a special election, which must come 70 to 174 days after the vacancy.
White plans to pitch statehood to incoming members before the new Congress starts, arguing that two more senators would add votes for the party agenda. The House passed statehood bills in 2020 and 2021, but both stalled in the Senate.
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