Muriel Bowser, who won a historic third consecutive mayoral term last night, said Washington residents see it as important as the nation’s capital awaits which parties will take control of the U.S. House and Senate.
Muriel Bowser, who won a historic third consecutive mayoral term last night, said Washington residents see it as important as the nation’s capital awaits which parties will take control of the U.S. House and Senate.
With a Democratic majority, the district enjoys a degree of autonomy, but Bowser doesn’t seem to care if Republican members try to get more involved in Washington, D.C.
“It doesn’t matter what they think, what matters is what Washington residents think,” Bowser said. “We’re going to do with them what we’ve always done. Tell them who we are. We take care of ourselves; we make our own laws; we need them out of our business.”
Bowser said she’s glad the expected “red wave” has subsided, and so far hasn’t happened, referring to an expected victory for Republican candidates that would overturn control of Congress.
Either way, she said her administration’s approach to running Washington won’t change.
“I’ve now worked with three different presidents and various iterations of control in Congress,” Bowser said.
But she said she hoped Democrats would address some of the city’s priorities soon before taking control of any House flip.
“Our friends in Congress now have time to advance the priorities of Washington, D.C.,” Bowser said. “We know there are judges at stake. Federal lands are at stake. Of course, there can still be a vote on statehood. In the meantime, we’ll keep pushing; if things change, we’ll work with Congress as we always have.”
State status seems extremely unlikely to happen between now and the end of the year. Going forward, Bowser also doesn’t appear to care about appearing before any congressional oversight committees to spar with lawmakers from other parts of the country who may be trying to score political points.
“If they do try to call me and score – they usually don’t – but if they do, they mostly do it on Twitter or something – if they do, we know the Washington, D.C. Residents will be ready to support me, Bowser said.
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