District of Columbia's at-large congressional district

The District of Columbia's at-large congressional district is a congressional district based entirely of the District of Columbia. According to the U.S. Constitution, only states may be represented in the Congress of the United States. The District of Columbia is not a U.S. state and therefore has no voting representation. Instead, constituents in the district elect a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Unlike residents of U.S. territories, who also elect non-voting delegates to the Congress, D.C. residents pay federal income tax, which essentially subjects them to taxation without representation.

Not to be confused with the District of Columbia Shadow Representative.

District of Columbia's at-large congressional district
Delegate	Eleanor Holmes Norton D–Washington
Area	61 sq mi (160 km^2)
Distribution	100.0% urban 0.0% rural
Population (2019)	705,749
Median income	$82,372[1]
Ethnicity	45.9% black 41% white 11% Hispanic 5.8% other 4.1% Asian 3% Two or more races 0.2% Native American 0.0% Pacific Islands Americans
Occupation	72.5% White-collar 16.3% Blue-collar 11.2% Gray-collar
Cook PVI	D+43[2][3]

Despite lacking full voting privileges on the floor of the House of Representatives, delegates are voting members in U.S. Congressional committees and they lobby their congressional colleagues regarding the District's interests. While the office was initially created during the Reconstruction Era by the Radical Republicans, Norton P. Chipman (R) briefly held the seat for less than two terms before the office was eliminated completely. The District of Columbia Delegate Act Pub.L. 91–405, 84 Stat. 845-2 of 1970 authorized voters in the District of Columbia to elect one non-voting delegate to represent them in the United States House of Representatives.[4] The act was approved by Congress on September 22, 1970 and subsequently signed into law by President Richard Nixon. Democrat Walter E. Fauntroy was elected as the district's delegate to Congress in a March 1971 special election, receiving 58 percent of the 116,635 votes cast.[5]

Since 1993, when the House of Representatives has been under Democratic control, delegates, including the District of Columbia's delegate, have been allowed to cast non-binding floor votes when the House of Representatives was operating in the Committee of the Whole.[6][7]

The district is currently represented by Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton.

List of delegates representing the district

Delegate	Party	Term	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created: March 4, 1871
Vacant		March 4, 1871 – April 21, 1871
Norton P. Chipman	Republican	April 21, 1871 – March 3, 1875	42nd 43rd	Elected to finish the vacant term. Re-elected in 1872. Seat eliminated.
District eliminated: March 4, 1875
District recreated: September 22, 1970
Vacant		September 22, 1970 – March 23, 1971	92nd
Walter Fauntroy	Democratic	March 23, 1971 – January 3, 1991	92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st	Elected to finish the vacant term. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Retired to run for Mayor of the District of Columbia
Eleanor Holmes Norton	Democratic	January 3, 1991 – present	102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th	Elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018.

Election results

1870s

D.C. At Large Congressional District Special Election (April 21, 1871)[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Norton P. Chipman	15,196		N/A
	Democratic	Richard T. Merrick	11,104		N/A
	Republican win (new seat)

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1873)[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Norton P. Chipman (inc.)	12,443
	Democratic	L.G. Hine	7,042
	Republican hold		Swing	{{{swing}}}

1970s

D.C. At Large Congressional District Special Election (March 23, 1971)[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy	68,166	58.44
	Republican	John A. Nevius	29,249	25.08
	D.C. Statehood Green	Julius Hobson	15,427	13.23
	Independent	Frank Kameny	1,888	1.62
	Independent	Douglas Moore	1,301	1.12
	Socialist Workers	James E. Harris	431	0.37
	No party	Write-ins	173	0.15
Total votes			116,635	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic win (new seat)

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1972)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	95,300	60.64
	Republican	William Chin-Lee	39,487	25.12
	D.C. Statehood Green	Charles I. Cassell	18,730	11.92
	Independent	David H. Dabney	2,514	1.60
	Socialist Workers	Herman Fagg	1,133	0.72
Total votes			157,164	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1974)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	66,337	63.78
	Independent	James G. Banks	21,874	21.03
	Republican	William R. Phillips	9,166	8.81
	D.C. Statehood Green	Anton V. Wood	3,039	2.92
	U.S. Labor	Susan Pennington	1,813	1.74
	Independent	David H. Dabney	1,539	1.48
	No party	Write-ins	246	0.24
Total votes			104,014	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1976)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	12,149	77.18
	Republican	Daniel L. Hall	1,566	9.95
	D.C. Statehood Green	Louis S. Aronica	1,076	6.84
	Socialist Workers	Charlotte J. Reavis	499	3.17
	U.S. Labor	Susan Pennington	377	2.39
	No party	Write-ins	75	0.48
Total votes			15,742	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1978)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	76,557	79.59
	Republican	Jackson R. Champion	11,677	12.02
	D.C. Statehood Green	Gregory Rowe	3,886	4.04
	Socialist Workers	Charlotte J. Reavis	1,649	1.71
	U.S. Labor	Cloid John Green	1,064	1.10
	No party	Write-ins	1,473	1.53
Total votes			96,306	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

1980s

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1980)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	111,631	74.44
	Republican	Robert J. Roehr	21,021	14.02
	D.C. Statehood Green	Josephine D. Butler	14,325	9.55
	No party	Write-ins	2,979	1.99
Total votes			149,956	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1982)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	93,422	83.01
	Republican	John West	17,242	15.32
	No party	Write-ins	1,879	1.67
Total votes			112,543	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1984)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	154,583	95.56
	No party	Write-ins	7,188	4.44
Total votes			161,771	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1986)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	101,604	80.09
	Republican	Mary L. H. King	17,643	13.91
	D.C. Statehood Green	Julie McCall	6,122	4.83
	No party	Write-ins	1,486	1.17
Total votes			126,855	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1988)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walter E. Fauntroy (inc.)	121,817	71.27
	Republican	Ron Evans	22,936	13.42
	D.C. Statehood Green	Alvin C. Frost	13,802	8.07
	Independent	David H. Dabney	10,449	6.11
	No party	Write-ins	1,929	1.13
Total votes			170,933	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

1990s

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1990)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton	98,442	61.67
	Republican	Harry M. Singleton	41,999	26.31
	Independent	George X. Cure	8,156	5.11
	D.C. Statehood Green	Leon Frederick Hunt	4,027	2.52
	Independent	David H. Dabney	3,334	2.09
	No party	Write-ins	3,669	2.30
Total votes			159,627	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1992)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	166,808	84.78
	Republican	Susan Emerson	20,108	10.22
	D.C. Statehood Green	Susan Griffin	7,253	3.69
	Socialist Workers	Sam Manuel	1,840	0.94
	No party	Write-ins	745	0.38
Total votes			196,754	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1994)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	154,988	89.25
	Republican	Donald A. Saltz	13,828	7.96
	D.C. Statehood Green	Rasco P. Braswell	2,824	1.63
	Socialist Workers	Bradley Downs	1,476	0.85
	No party	Write-ins	548	0.32
Total votes			173,664	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1996)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	134,996	90.00
	Republican	Sprague Simonds	11,306	7.54
	Independent	Faith	2,119	1.41
	Socialist Workers	Sam Manuel	1,146	0.76
	No party	Write-ins	431	0.29
Total votes			149,998	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (1998)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	122,228	89.64
	Republican	Edward Henry Wolterbeek	8,610	6.31
	D.C. Statehood Green	Pat Kidd	2,323	1.70
	Independent	Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi	1,647	1.21
	Socialist Workers	Mary Martin	1,087	0.80
	No party	Write-ins	464	0.34
Total votes			136,359	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2000s

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2000)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	158,824	90.43
	Republican	Edward Henry Wolterbeek	10,258	5.84
	Libertarian	Robert D. Kampia	4,594	2.62
	Socialist Workers	Sam Manuel	1,419	0.81
	No party	Write-ins	536	0.31
Total votes			175,631	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2002)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	119,268	93.01
	Independent	Pat Kidd	7,733	6.03
	No party	Write-ins	1,232	0.96
Total votes			128,233	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2004)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	202,027	91.33
	Republican	Michael Andrew Monroe	18,296	8.27
	No party	Write-ins	890	0.40
Total votes			221,213	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2006)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	111,726	97.34
	No party	Write-ins	3,051	2.66
Total votes			114,777	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2008)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	228,376	92.28
	D.C. Statehood Green	Maude Hills	16,693	6.75
	No party	Write-ins	2,402	0.97
Total votes			247,471	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

2010s

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2010)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	117,990	88.94
	Republican	Missy Reilly Smith	8,109	6.11
	D.C. Statehood Green	Rick Tingling-Clemmons	4,413	3.33
	No party	Write-ins	2,144	1.61
Total votes			132,656	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2012)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	246,664	88.54
	Libertarian	Bruce Majors	16,524	5.93
	D.C. Statehood Green	Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi	13,243	4.75
	No party	Write-ins	2,132	0.78
Total votes			278,563	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2014)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	143,923	83.73
	Republican	Nelson F. Rimensnyder	11,673	6.79
	Independent	Timothy J. Krepp	9,101	5.29
	D.C. Statehood Green	Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi	6,073	3.53
	No party	Write-ins	1,123	0.65
Total votes			171,893	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2016) [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	265,178	84.84
	Libertarian	Martin Moulton	18,713	5.99
	D.C. Statehood Green	Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi	14,336	4.59
	No party	Write-ins	2,679	0.86
Total votes			300,906	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

D.C. At Large Congressional District Election (2018) [13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eleanor Holmes Norton (inc.)	199,124	87.04
	Republican	Nelson F. Rimensnyder	9,700	4.24
	D.C. Statehood Green	Natale "Lino" Stracuzzi	8,636	3.77
	Independent	John Cheeks	5,509	2.41
	Libertarian	Bruce Majors	4,034	1.76
	No party	Write-ins	1,766	0.77
Total votes			228,769	100.00
Turnout
	Democratic hold

See also

• District of Columbia voting rights
• District of Columbia statehood movement
• United States congressional delegations from the District of Columbia
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=11
2. "Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" (PDF). Partisan Voting Index. The Cook Political Report. October 11, 2012. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
3. Barone, Michael; McCutcheon, Chuck (2013). The Almanac of American Politics 2014. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 358–. ISBN 978-0-226-10544-4. Copyright National Journal.
4. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/STATUTE-84/STATUTE-84-Pg845-2/content-detail.html
5. "Fauntroy Election Certified". The Washington Post. April 6, 1971. p. C6. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
6. The practice began with the 103rd Congress, but was revoked when the Republicans retook the House for the 104th Congress. Democrats reinstated the practice in the 110th Congress, but Republicans again revoked it in the 112th Congress.
7. Portnoy, Jenna (January 3, 2017). "Republican-led Congress denies D.C. delegate a vote. Again". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
8. Gibbs, C. R. (March 2, 1989). "The District Had a Voice, if Not a Vote, in the 42nd Congress". The Washington Post. p. DC3.
9. "The Washington Election". The Baltimore Sun. Apr 20, 1871. p. 1.
10. Gibbs, C. R. (March 2, 1989). "The District Had a Voice, if Not a Vote, in the 42nd Congress". The Washington Post. p. DC3.
11. "Fauntroy Election Certified". The Washington Post. April 6, 1971. p. C6.
12. "General Election 2016 - Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
13. "General Election 2018 — Certified Results". District of Columbia Board of Elections. Retrieved December 17, 2018.

External links

• District of Columbia Congressional District map