Rini Sampath

Excluded from the Fox 5 / Georgetown debate despite saying she hit the 1,000-donor Fair Elections threshold

Sampath's campaign argues she met the Fox 5 / Georgetown debate's donor-count eligibility but was still kept off the stage; the controversy was amplified by reporter Martin Austermuhle and is part of her public framing that the DC political machine is treating the race as a two-horse contest.

• 2026-05-05GW Hatchet
• 2026-05-01X (@maustermuhle)· social
• 2026-03-2051st

Make statehood a national Democratic Party priority, push for full voting representation, and defend DC autonomy through litigation if needed. [Campaign site — Policy Overviews ↗]

Stabilize MPD staffing, reduce overtime dependency, and order a full operational review of the public-safety ecosystem alongside prevention and youth programs. [Campaign site — Policy Overviews ↗]

Cut the 13-month affordable-unit vacancy lag, build over 36,000 units with affordability targets, ban rental junk fees, preserve rental assistance. [Campaign site — Policy Overviews ↗]

Defend DC's local tax decisions against congressional disapproval; eliminate duplicative fees and require sunset reviews so new fees expire unless reauthorized. [Campaign site — Policy Overviews ↗]

Reduce traffic deaths by prioritizing dangerous corridors, enforce bus lanes and transit-signal priority as standard operations, publish performance dashboards. [Campaign site — Policy Overviews ↗]

Fix school buildings and staffing, cut chronic absenteeism now at 40% of students, expand afterschool programming and early-literacy initiatives. [Campaign site — Policy Overviews ↗]