The United States, but more so
Democratic California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla represent nearly 40 million Americans. Republican Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming represent fewer than 600,000, meaning a single resident of their state enjoys the same representation in the U.S. Senate as nearly 70 Californians.
That’s why the question of statehood for Washington, D.C., which was considered by a House committee Monday, is about more than the disenfranchisement of more than 700,000 Americans who live in the District of Columbia. It’s also about the effective disenfranchisement of tens of millions of residents of California.
The district encompasses more Americans than not just Wyoming but also Vermont, which serves as a reminder that not every small state is represented by Republicans. But the populations that enjoy overrepresentation in the Senate skew heavily in favor of the GOP. The nation’s five smallest states, for example, are represented by eight Republicans and two Democrats.
As it happens, compared with the 50 sitting Senate Republicans, the 50 Democratic senators underrepresent their constituents by over 40 million votes, meaning the number effectively denied representation by the chamber is roughly equivalent to the entire population of California.
The political and moral case for D.C. statehood was only strengthened by federal mishandling of last summer’s protests against police violence in the capital as well as the riot that infiltrated the U.S. Capitol in January.
Along with the Electoral College and gerrymandered House districts, the Senate’s overrepresentation of sparsely populated states ensures that predominantly white, rural, Republican voters enjoy disproportionate federal power. Meanwhile, significant African American and Latino populations live in the two largest American jurisdictions with no vote in the Senate or the House, the District and Puerto Rico — the latter being more populous than 20 states.
Congress is considering legislation that would address this injustice by reconsidering the status of the island territory as well as the federal district. The most obvious hurdle, incredibly enough, is the filibuster, which accords Senate Republicans even more unearned power by allowing any 40 of them to block most legislation, further skewing representative government against a majority of Americans. It’s one more reason for Democrats to abandon the reactionary rule.