The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is sounding the alarm on Democratic candidate Amish Shah, who is running for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, for his push to make Washington, D.C., the 51st State, decrying it as a "Democrat power grab."
A History of Support
Dr. Shah has supported granting the District of Columbia statehood since at least 2021, when, during his time in Arizona's House of Representatives, he signed on to a letter to Arizona's Congressional delegation urging them to vote on legislation in favor of it.
In 2023, Shah sponsored Arizona House Concurrent Resolution 2034, which expressed support for D.C. statehood.
Finally, after he won the Democratic primary for Arizona's 1st Congressional District in late July, Washington Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) Trupti Patel celebrated on X with a telling post, writing, "Ohhh this a big F*CKING deal am looking @DrAmishShah to protect DC statehood."
Why It Matters
Washington, D.C. is the bluest stronghold in America, with 93% of votes going to Joe Biden in 2020, and with no Republicans in office. By contrast, President Donald Trump won Wyoming in 2020 with 70% of the vote.
Granting Washington statehood would effectively give Democrats two guaranteed seats in the Senate, which could further skew electoral outcomes overall.
The Tip of the Iceberg
The NRCC noted that Shah's support for D.C. statehood is just one facet of his left-wing agenda, previously highlighting Shah's positions, such as favoring nationalized healthcare, soft-on-crime policies, open borders, and massive tax hikes, in a July ad campaign.
"Socialist Amish Shah demonstrated he's a partisan Democrat obsessed with seizing power to force unpopular far-left tax hikes on Arizonans," said NRCC Spokesman Ben Petersen, adding, "Arizona families can't afford Socialist Shah rubber-stamping a radical left agenda in Congress."
In May, shortly after President Donald Trump escaped a third assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Shah was ragged for refusing to condemn the attack, with Republican National Committee spokesman Nick Poche writing, "After spewing hateful rhetoric against President Trump and Republicans, Amish Shah, Marlene-Galan Woods, and Jonathan Treble's silence on yet another assassination attempt against the president is disgusting."
