Ankit Jain has been involved in activism for D.C. statehood for years, handing out flyers and attending rallies. But in 2023, Jain witnessed what he saw as a major slight to D.C.’s local autonomy: Republicans in Congress shut down D.C.’s attempt to rewrite its local criminal code.
“I watched that with a large degree of frustration. I thought a large reason we failed in our efforts was because of poor leadership,” he said in an interview with the Voice.
The voting rights attorney decided to run for office to fight for increased autonomy for the District.
Jain took office last year as one of D.C.’s shadow senators, an elected official working alongside Congress without congressional voting power. Jain represents the people of D.C, with fellow shadow Senator Paul Strauss and shadow Representative Oye Owolewa.
The District also has a delegate to the House, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who can introduce legislation, make speeches, and vote in committees, though she can’t vote on legislation. Jain, Strauss, and Owolewa can take none of those actions.
Shadow senators and representatives represent subnational polities—political entities under the federal level, like territories—before they achieve statehood. Today, the nation’s capital and Puerto Rico have these elected officials.
D.C.’s shadow delegation lobbies for statehood and legislation that protects the interests of the city and its residents, according to Jain. They also work to prevent congressional interference within District affairs, defending the D.C. Home Rule Act, which allows D.C. to govern itself and elect its own local representatives.
“I have always believed that statehood should not be a partisan issue. It’s about 700,000 tax-paying American citizens being denied the right to vote,” Jain said.
Jain and his colleague, Strauss, frequently travel far from D.C., speaking to state legislative bodies or petitioning the United Nations to build popular support for statehood.
“Sometimes the best way to [achieve statehood] is by getting out of Washington, D.C., going to targeted states, working with leaders in other parts of the country to promote the issue,” Strauss said.
Historically, states like Tennessee, California, and Alaska used shadow senators to petition Congress for statehood. Each of these states took years to achieve statehood, with Alaska taking nearly five decades.
“Statehood can take a while,” Strauss said. “It’s challenging to have to explain that to a justifiably impatient electorate who is clamoring for change.”
Jain’s office sits in a D.C. government building, not a congressional one, but most of his days consist of meeting with members of Congress.
“I’m like D.C.’s elected lobbyist for our rights before Congress,” Jain said.
He believes his biggest asset in the role is building connections. He meets with the media and other officials to draw attention to bills important for D.C. residents. He also coordinates advocacy strategies with D.C.-based organizations that are fighting for statehood.
Jain said that there’s a lot of work to be done on Capitol Hill to fight for D.C.’s autonomy.
On Feb. 12, Congress voted to block a D.C. Council measure to separate local tax code from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This is the fourth time Congress has blocked local D.C. legislation through a disapproval resolution since the 1973 Home Rule Act.
“D.C. is at more risk than it has ever been,” Jain said. “We’re at the point where we can’t even pass a budget.”
With this resolution, alongside the deployment of the National Guard to D.C. last summer, attacks on D.C.’s residents have increased under the Trump administration, Jain said. Jain hopes that this will fuel the fight for statehood.
“The president’s interest in D.C and all these attacks on D.C. are raising awareness around the country about the harms that D.C. has to suffer because we’re not a state,” Jain said.
D.C.’s first shadow senators were elected in 1990, after the D.C. government established the position. Since then, D.C. has elected five. One of the first was Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr., a renowned civil rights leader who died on Feb. 17.
While Strauss and Jain continue to fight for statehood through their elected positions, other organizations are working to lead community-based efforts. Alicia Yass, the supervising policy counsel at the ACLU of D.C., believes that D.C. deserves senators who have the same resources and power as the rest of the country.
“They’re not doing the job that a senator does. They’re doing a different job, that hopefully at one point will not be needed because the District will gain statehood,” she said.
For Yass, the fight for statehood is particularly important to enfranchise the historically Black and brown city. Currently, D.C. is 43% Black and 13% Latino.
“The ongoing denial of statehood for D.C. residents is rooted in racism,” Yass said. “There’s these powers that our local government does not have, and that is limiting the strength of the vote of our Black and brown communities.”
Yass urged people living or voting outside of D.C. to contact their local representatives and advocate for statehood. Students living in the District for college, she said, have more influence than other D.C. residents, who may be ignored by members of Congress who do not represent them.
“Students who are in the District, potentially just temporarily, and may be going back home to states or have family friends who are still voting in states, [are] really a key part of this,” Yass said. “You all can deliver that message from actual lived experience.”
