Former Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the National Bar Association annual convention in Nashville last month, discussing voting rights and other topics with the organization’s president, Ashley Upkins.
In the conversation, Harris brought up some bold proposals she has been mentioning this year with increased frequency as midterm elections draw near. “We need to revisit the Electoral College. We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 justices like we have 13 district courts,” she said. “We need to revisit if they still want statehood for Puerto Rico and DC.”
Is that support for Puerto Rico statehood?
“We need to revisit if they still want statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C.” implies that something may have changed and that Puerto Rico and/or D.C. may no longer want statehood. With respect to Puerto Rico, the island territory has voted four times — every statehood vote in this century — in favor of statehood.
D.C. also has been unwavering in their calls for statehood. The inclusion of “if they still want” may be a nod to the self-determination rhetoric that Congress has been using for years. It facilitates an inclination to sidestep the question of congressional responsibility to resolve Puerto Rico’s political status.
Although Puerto Rico statehood and D.C. statehood are separate issues, there has been a long tradition of admitting states in pairs. This practice is left over from the national controversy over slavery and is not required by any law. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and can be admitted, as 32 other territories have been admitted, by a simple majority vote in Congress. D.C. may be more complicated. Supporters of D.C. statehood have a plan to accomplish the District’s admission, but it may have to be a different plan from the one for Puerto Rico.
However, Harris’s statements have been welcomed as signs of support for Puerto Rico and D.C. statehood by many.
Is this the Democratic Party agenda?
Republicans have been saying that proposals from Harris are part of a “socialist agenda.” News sources have been calling them a “progressive agenda.” Yet Harris is one of the possible candidates for a presidential run with the Democratic Party. Could Puerto Rico statehood be part of the Democratic agenda?
The most recent Democratic Party Platform says this: “Democrats recognize that the people of Puerto Rico have earned and deserve to resolve the political status questions. For this reason, Democrats support the enactment of the Puerto Rico Status Act/H.R. 2757, and promote full civic and political representation for Puerto Ricans.”
In April of 2026, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) resolutions committee approved a statement clearly calling for statehood for Puerto Rico. The resolution was called “Resolution Calling for Immediate Congressional Action on Puerto Rico’s Political Status and the Reintroduction and Passage of the Puerto Rico Status Act.”
DNC Calls for the Resolution of Puerto Rico’s Political Status
The detailed resolution concludes with “The Democratic National Committee declares that the time for symbolic support has passed, and that the fulfillment of equal citizenship for Puerto Ricans demands immediate legislative action.”
With the furor over the “End Birthright Citizenship for Territories” act and the growing influence of Puerto Rican voters on the mainland, Puerto Rico’s political status is becoming part of the national political landscape in the run-up to the midterms — and perhaps the next presidential race as well.
