By Jess Sharplive reporter in Washington DC

The economy, the war in the Middle East and immigration are just a few of the issues voters mentioned to me today, but for Kelsye Adams, the most important issue in this election is obtain statehood for Washington DC.

The DC Vote organizing director is just one of many people who came to Metrobar to share their message.

Washington DC, although home to federal government buildings, is not and never has been a state.

Instead, Washington is a city located within the territory of the District of Columbia.

This means that residents do not have elected representatives in the Senate and that the region’s representative in the House does not have full voting powers.

Kelsye explained to me that the district has no representation in government, despite having a population larger than two states.

“We are the only country where the people of the nation’s capital have no say in the federal government,” she said.

“You would think that America is the hegemon, and based on all these principles of freedom and democracy, I guess we’ve left out fairness, because we’ve forgotten 700,000 Americans.

“It’s a target against people of color. We’re just born, and they say we can’t have a voice in Congress and ‘no senator for you’.”

The 33-year-old said D.C. was tasked with housing the federal government after an insurrection during the creation of the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1776.

But she said the Jan. 6 riots showed it was no longer a “safe space” for elected officials.

“It was created to protect the federal government from insurrection, but it was and the lack of statehood is why it couldn’t defend itself,” she said, explaining that the mayor was unable to call the National Guard.

“If we had been a state, we would have avoided an insurrection,” she added.

So what does this have to do with the presidential election?

To become a state, a bill must be passed by Congress or the president.

“When you think about power, about getting anything in a political space, there has to be a shift in power, and no one wants to be the person who lost power,” Kelsye said.

“We know for a fact that Harris will fight for statehood in Washington.”

I asked her what she thought a Trump presidential election would mean for her cause, and she replied that “it would certainly be chaotic for Washington.”

She stressed the importance of the vote, saying she wanted “people in all 50 states” to realize that Washingtonians don’t have a representative who can fight for them.

“If you don’t want to fight, that’s fine, but what I’m asking people is to vote for him. The fact that I’m not represented in congress is just a feeling of fury,” he said. she added.