Robert White, a former at-large D.C. Council member, was elected to be the next Congressional delegate for D.C., replacing Eleanor Holmes Norton.
This is the first time that D.C. voters elected a new delegate since 1991. Norton held the non-voting delegate seat for more than 30 years, staunchly advocating for D.C. statehood.
White, who worked with Norton for five years, received more than 87% of the vote, according to the D.C. Board of Elections. Republican Denise Rosado received 6.4%, and Statehood Green Party candidate Kymone Freeman had 5.68%.
White’s campaign has focused on protecting the district’s autonomy and the importance of voting rights, democratic participation and public service.
“We are going to fight for the federal funds to help our schools, federal trade programs,” White said. “We’re going to put federal resources to work for this city, because that is part of the American dream. But that American promise also means full American citizenship, full democracy for the 700,000 people that call Washington, D.C., home.”
“We are the last democracy on earth that denies full participation from the residents of its capital city,” he added. “This is wrong, this must end and it will end here.”
Shannel Laws is a reporter at The Trilogy at the University of the District of Columbia, where this article was originally published. The Trilogy and HUNewsService.com are part of the HBCU Election Project in collaboration with WHUT-TV Howard University Television. They are also among 10 HBCU newsrooms in the Indaba Student Press Leadership and Innovation Consortium, sponsored by Howard’s Center for Journalism & Democracy.
