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Oct 12, 2020 - Politics & Policy

GOP senator: D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood "more problematic" than demographic trends

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Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) is more worried about Democrats granting statehood to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., than the "natural trends" of demographic change, he told "Axios on HBO."

The big picture: President Trump won a narrow Electoral College victory in 2016, and the U.S. electorate is rapidly becoming less white.

  • That could lead to Republican strongholds becoming purple states or even flipping to blue states.

"If something doesn't change relatively quickly, Texas could go, Georgia could go, Arizona could go," Axios CEO Jim VandeHei told Cramer in the interview.

"Cycles happen. Trends happen. What could actually sort of escalate that, if you will, trend is if something like D.C. statehood, Puerto Rican statehood, which would be a political move by Democrats, should they get total power, and eliminate the filibuster," Cramer told "Axios on HBO."

  • "That would certainly become more problematic than just the natural trends you talk about."
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