Robinson noted that it is undisputed that less-populated states have disproportionate power in the Senate, and while that is unlikely to change due to a requisite constitutional amendment, adding more states can address that imbalance of power, and it would be up to Congress to decide if it were to do this act of “constitutional hardball. The Dakota territory, which was home to a large non-voting Native American population but only 20,000 potential citizens, became two states overnight. Clearly, these states are no different from states like California and.

For example, in 1889 when the Republican Party was facing a probable loss in the 1890 election, Congress simply created six new states and they got 12 Republican senators out of it. Kentucky is also a commonwealth, as are Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. It is, but as our guest Robinson Woodward-Burns noted, that has always been the case when adding states. Is adding these states a partisan political act? If Congress votes for them to become states, this would result in several new seats in the House and four in the Senate. Article IV of the Constitution says that adding a state requires the “consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” There is also a movement for Washington, D.C., which does have three electoral votes, to become a state. But whether it becomes a state or not depends entirely on the U.S. This November, Puerto Ricans voted for a referendum to make it the 51st state.

What are the 7 commonwealth states