A recent survey found out that 36 percent of voters think both Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico should gain statehood, the Hill reported.
According to the poll conducted by the Hill-HarrisX, 11 percent of the participants are in favor of granting statehood only to Puerto Rico, while nine percent believe only the District deserves becoming a state.
Seventeen percent of those answering the questions said neither D.C. nor Puerto Rico should be given statehood.
Another finding of the research was that Democrats were more enthusiastic about the statehood of D.C. and Puerto Rico, with 47 percent expressing support for both. The percentage of independent voters supporting the statehood of both was 37.
Meanwhile, only 24 percent of Republican voters showed support and 26 percent said neither should become a state.
According to pro-statehood D.C. residents, they are not represented in Congress, with no voting member in the House or Senate.
In May 2017, a bill for D.C. statehood was introduced to the Senate for the first time. Democratic Senator Tom Carper, in collaboration with leading D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, drafted and proposed the bill with 18 Democratic and independent co-sponsors.
On January 3, Norton introduced another bill for D.C. statehood. The bill set a new record and attracted 155 original co-sponsors.
Presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren declared her support for D.C. statehood in February, a few weeks after Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez signed on to the D.C. statehood bill.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, together with two dozen attorneys general, issued a statement in support of the statehood for D.C. in April.
In May, U.S. House Majority Leader and Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny H. Hoyer wrote a Washington Post op-ed announcing his support for the statehood of Washington, D.C., changing his previous position on the issue.
Hoyer wrote that he concluded the only way to give permanent congressional representation to D.C. residents was statehood, since any other legislation could be reversed and would be temporary.
Hoyer also said he would co-sponsor Norton’s bill, which will see a hearing at the House later this month.
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