Voters in the District of Columbia on Tuesday supported becoming the country’s 51st state with a governor and a 21-seat state legislature.
But the proposal, which will be submitted to Congress, could prove difficult to pass as Republicans remain opposed to statehood. The reason: It would add two new Senate seats for Democrats. Voters lobbied for statehood in the 1980s but Congress did not move it forward.
D.C. has 650,000 residents who don’t have a voting representative in the Senate despite the fact that they have to pay for federal taxes.
Federal property would be carved out around the White House, Capitol and National Mall as that land could not be part of the new state per the Constitution.
Republican nominee Donald Trump has said he has no position on statehood while Hillary Clinton said she supports it.
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