Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland was the last Democratic lawmaker in the DMV area to oppose D.C. statehood. But Thursday he announced he has changed his mind.
Hoyer announced his decision in an op-ed for the Washington Post.
"Our founders, who prescribed the creation of a national capital not within the jurisdiction of any individual state, never intended for those living in it to be denied representation," he wrote.
"For 228 years, our government has denied them that voice," Hoyer said in the op-ed. "More than 700,000 Americans remain unable to cast votes for an equal voice in Congress."
Part of the reason Hoyer initially opposed statehood was because it could eventually allow D.C. to tax Maryland residents who work in the city-state a "commuter tax."
In his op-ed Thursday, Hoyer saidhe also once believed statehood would be "politically difficult."
Hoyer is the House Majority Leader. Many think his opinion change is key.
"He helps set the agenda of what's going to be taken up on the floor of the House," Josh Burch, founder of Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood, said.
The movement for D.C. statehood has been gaining momentum, even making its way to the presidential campaign trail in recent months.
Today Congresswomen Eleanor Holmes Norton and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser celebrated the movement's most recent "win" -- that the first hearing for statehood will be held this summer, scheduled for July 24.
"Every single Democrat running for president endorses D.C. statehood, and now we have a hearing date," the mayor said.
Although the statehood bill is now likely to pass the Democratic house, the movement's supporters know it will have a harder time making it through a Republican-controlled Senate.
"We aren't as hopeful in the U.S. Senate we don't think Senator McConnell is going to take up this legislation," Burch said.
But they're determined to reach their goal.
Neighbors United for DC Statehood say their next step will be to make statehood a campaign issue and focus on helping elect Senators -- and a president -- who support their cause.