Eleanor Norton

The candidates running to be D.C.'s next voice in Congress agree that the fight to get the District to statehood has to get louder, but they don't agree on how.

All five Democrats vying to replace longtime Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton took the stage Saturday at George Washington University's Jack Morton Auditorium, part of "DCision 2026: Delegate and Mayoral Debate," hosted by The Washington Informer. The delegate debate came ahead of a separate mayoral forum later in the afternoon.

ALSO READ | DC Mayoral candidates clash over youth curfew, city leadership

Statehood was one of the sharpest topics of the debate, and the candidates came with very different game plans.

Greg Jaczko pitched exempting D.C. residents from paying federal income tax.

"I'll focus on exempting D.C. residents from federal income tax," Jaczko said. "It's the key way that we can generate the discussion nationally around the lack of statehood in D.C. and the injustice that that creates. And it will keep that $30 billion that we send to the federal government — for which we have no real control over — and make sure that that money stays in the District."

Kinney Zalesne argued the problem is simpler than most people think: Americans just don't know enough about what D.C.'s lack of statehood actually means.

"We need a national marketing campaign that's run right here in D.C.," Zalesne said, "to tell our own residents and the 30 million Americans who come visit our city what it means to us to not be a state. We need signs on our airport walls, on the walls of Union Station, on the sides of our buses that say, 'Welcome to D.C. We're the last colony.'"

Robert White, a D.C. Council member, said the path to statehood runs straight through the national political climate.

"We are going to tap into the anger around the country and its motivation for people to capture Democratic control of Congress," White said. "That is the number one argument for DC statehood now. We're not going to make DC a state because it's the right thing to do — if that were the case, that would have happened already."

White also pointed to his endorsements from major congressional caucuses as proof he could move the needle.

Trent Holbrook argued the movement has already made real progress — and said he'd keep pressing on every front, including pushing back directly on federal overreach.

"Whenever Trump oversteps in D.C., and he uses the National Guard in the streets, we do things like fight back and get additional co-sponsors on statehood and pass the District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act," Holbrook said.

Brooke Pinto, also a D.C. Council member, made the case that statehood isn't just a D.C. issue.

"We need to make sure every American knows that it is an American interest to have representation," Pinto said. "We are not living up to the Constitution by failing to have representation for the residents of Washington, D.C."

The Pinto-White matchup has drawn attention beyond just their policy differences. This week, 7News' I-Team took a closer look at what's become a personal clash between the two council colleagues.

RELATED | Candidates in DC Delegate race for Congress tossing political punches at each other

The Democratic party primary will be held on June 16.