Washington, DC's Lack of U.S. Senators Hurts Urban America Too
By Ryan Griffin, Jack Santucci, David Moon
Published January 31st 2007
The D.C. Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act (H.R. 328 2007) would grant the residents of our nation�s capital an historic voting member in the United States House of Representatives. While a critical step toward giving a voice to District of Columbia residents H.R. 328, however, does not address the problem of the District�s lack of representation in the U.S. Senate. Beyond addressing a serious injustice to Washingtonians, U.S. Senate representation for the District would benefit urban residents around the nation. This is because (1) no U.S. Senator currently represents a majority urban state, as defined as people living in major cities, (2) there is a paucity of past experience with urban governance in the present U.S. Senate and (3) two U.S. Senators can be enough to change a legislative outcome.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.