Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position.
(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)
Chuck Baldwin, Founder and Minister of the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, issued the following statement through his Communications Director, Mary Starrett, in an Aug. 18, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"No. This is clearly prohibited by the Constitution of the United States." Aug. 18, 2008 Chuck Baldwin
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), on May 1, 2007 voted No S.1257 "A bill to provide the District of Columbia a voting seat and the State of Utah an additional seat in the House of Representatives," which stated:
"District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007 - (Sec. 2) Considers the District of Columbia a congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives.
Declares that the District shall not be considered a state for purposes of representation in the Senate...
(Sec. 5) Repeals provisions of: (1) the District of Columbia Delegate Act establishing the office of District of Columbia Delegate to the House of Representatives; and (2) the District of Columbia Statehood Constitution Convention Initiative of 1979 providing for election of a Representative for the District." May 1, 2007 "S. 1257," Library of Congress: THOMAS website
[Editorâ€â„¢s Note: John McCain was a US Senator on May 5, 1993 when S.898 "A Bill to Provide for the Admission of the State of New Columbia into the Union," also known as the "D.C. Statehood Bill," was introduced. S.898 never came to a vote in the Senate and ProCon.org found no statement by John McCain regarding this legislation.]
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), stated in a July 31, 2008 DC Statehood Green Party press release titled "DC's '2nd Party' Challenges Washington Post to give Statehood Green Candidates Fair Coverage":
"The Green Party is the only national party that supports granting DC statehood status in its platform, a change that would free a community of color, with a majority of African Americans from being a colony, and provide real democracy and civil rights for those living there." July 31, 2008 Cynthia McKinney
Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, in an article titled "Electoral Reform" on his official candidate website (accessed July 16, 2008), stated:
"Statehood for DC!...
Most Americans do not know, and many would find it hard to believe, that under our current system D.C. residents are second-class citizens. The District is denied local control Congress must approve the District's budget, and can override any action of the city government. At the same time, District residents do not even have one voting representative in the Congress that controls them. D.C. is effectively a colony, with all local decisions directly subject to change by a Congress largely out of touch with local realities...
The voters of the District of Columbia should be allowed to hold a referendum to choose their future status." July 16, 2008 Ralph Nader
Barack Obama, US Senator (D-IL), on May 1, 2007 cosponsored S.1257 "A bill to provide the District of Columbia a voting seat and the State of Utah an additional seat in the House of Representatives," which stated:
"District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007 - (Sec. 2) Considers the District of Columbia a congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives.
Declares that the District shall not be considered a state for purposes of representation in the Senate...
(Sec. 5) Repeals provisions of: (1) the District of Columbia Delegate Act establishing the office of District of Columbia Delegate to the House of Representatives; and (2) the District of Columbia Statehood Constitution Convention Initiative of 1979 providing for election of a Representative for the District." May 1, 2007 Barack Obama
[Editor's Note: Barack Obama supports voting representation for DC in the House of Representatives as indicated in his Dec. 2007 response to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's [NAACP] questionnaire titled "The NAACP 2008 Presidential Candidate Civil Rights Questionnaire"(1.1MB) : "I am an original cosponsor of the Senate bill that will provide the District of Columbia with voting representation in the House of Representatives...In our great democracy, it's a shame that residents of the District who pay taxes, fight in wars, and enjoy the same rights as every other American have no voting representation in our nation's capital."]
INACTIVE CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear
below in black and white and in alphabetical order by party.)