Kinney Zalesne
ድምፅ የሌለው ተወካይ ለኮንግረስ — የዴሞክራቲክ ፓርቲ የመጀመሪያ ዙር ምርጫ, ጁን 16፣ 2026
በዲሲ ፍትሃዊ ምርጫ ፕሮግራም ውስጥ የለምKinney Zalesne (age 59) came to DC in 1995 for what was supposed to be a short stint in the Clinton White House. She fell in love with the city and has raised four children here with her husband Scott, serving in leadership roles in DC's schools, pools, parks, and nonprofits for 30 years. Her career spans government, business, and the nonprofit sector. She served as Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia before becoming a White House Fellow with Vice President Gore. She then served as Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno at the Department of Justice — a tenure she credits with the largest drop in crime in recorded US history through prevention, community engagement, and rehabilitation alongside tough enforcement. She later joined Microsoft as GM of Corporate Strategy and GM of Responsible Growth, and co-authored the bestselling book "Microtrends." She also served as Deputy National Finance Chair of the DNC and National Co-Chair of Women for Harris. Of all those roles, she calls her work at College Summit (now Peer Forward) her favorite. She left DOJ to help Co-Founder J.B. Schramm scale the program — originally started in an Adams Morgan basement to help low-income students reach college — growing its budget 20-fold and expanding it from a local effort to a national operation. Under her leadership the organization also helped change federal law to require high schools be measured on college enrollment and persistence, not just graduation. She also served as Board Chair of a Ward 4 school that doubled in enrollment during her tenure. On statehood, she calls DC's lack of voting representation "a national disgrace and part of the legacy of racism," but argues that fixing it requires a strategic "grand bargain" on Capitol Hill rather than outrage — coalition-building across sectors and the aisle being her signature skill. She proposes creating a Capital Caucus in Congress to build economic power regionally with MD, VA, and neighboring jurisdictions. On public safety she draws on her Reno experience: robust funding for evidence-based practices, gun reform, prevention, and rehabilitation. On technology, she draws on her Microsoft and Harvard democracy-and-technology work to advocate for AI policy that supports innovation while ensuring technology works for people.
ድጋፎች (Endorsements) (17)
የተመረጡ/የተሾሙ ባለሥልጣናት
- Eric Holder (Former US Attorney General)
- Carlos Del Toro (78th Secretary of the Navy)
- Richard Danzig (Former Secretary of the Navy)
- Jaime Harrison (Former DNC Chair)
- Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM)
- Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA)
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
- Tricia Duncan (Ward 3 ANC Commissioner)
- Jeff Denny (Former ANC Member, Ward 3)
- Chris Moore (Retired Police Chief, San Jose)
የተሟጋችነት እና የማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች
- DC Women in Politics (preference poll winner)
ግለሰቦች እና ታዋቂ ሰዎች
- J.B. Schramm (Co-Founder, Peer Forward)
- Naomi Reem (Former Head of School, Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School)
- Theresa Atta Ifogah (Former Director of Program, Peer Forward)
- A'shanti Gholar (President & CEO, Emerge)
- Riman Barakat (co-CEO, Feel Beit, Jerusalem)
- Karen Brunwasser (co-CEO, Feel Beit, Jerusalem)
በጉዳዮች ላይ ያሉ አቋሞች
ሁሉም አቋሞች በቀጥታ ከዕጩው የምርጫ ቅስቀሳ ቁሳቁሶች፣ ከይፋዊ የመጠይቅ ምላሾች ወይም ከተረጋገጠ የዜና ዘገባ የተገኙ ናቸው። አቋሞች ከበጽኑ ይቃወማል (−2) እስከ በጽኑ ይደግፋል (+2) ባለው ሚዛን ይመዘናሉ። ያልታወቀ አቋም ማለት ምንም ይፋዊ አቋም አልተገኘም ማለት ነው።
የዲሲን ግዛትነት (statehood) ማሳካት ለዲስትሪክቱ የኮንግረስ ተወካይ ቀዳሚ ቅድሚያ ሊሆን ይገባል።
Calls DC's lack of voting representation 'a national disgrace and part of the legacy of racism,' but argues that fixing it requires a strategic 'grand bargain' on Capitol Hill — not outrage. Distinguishes herself from other candidates by emphasizing coalition-building across sectors and the aisle as the path to full representation. Proposes a Capital Caucus to build regional economic leverage with DC, MD, VA, and neighboring jurisdictions.
የዲሲ ተወካይ ግዛትነትን በዋናነት በግጭትና በተቃውሞ ሳይሆን በኮንግረስ ውስጥ የሁለቱም ፓርቲ ጥምረት እና የሕግ ስምምነቶችን በመገንባት መከታተል አለበት።
Explicitly the 'grand bargain' candidate: 'fixing this will take more than indignance and outrage. It will require a strategic approach to a grand bargain on Capitol Hill… Throughout my career I've built coalitions across sectors and across the aisle.' Frames bipartisan coalition-building as her signature path to statehood.
ዲሲ የፌደራል ሠራተኞችን ከጅምላ ስንብት ለመጠበቅ እና የፌደራል ኤጀንሲዎች ከዲስትሪክቱ እንዳይዛወሩ ለመከላከል ያሉትን ሕጋዊ መሣሪያዎች ሁሉ — ክስ መመስረትን እና የሕዝብ ተሟጋችነትን ጨምሮ — መጠቀም አለባት።
Casts protecting the federal workforce as a founding reason for her campaign — 'Trump is crushing this city on purpose' — and points to her DOJ record beating back Republican efforts to kill crime-prevention and after-school programs. Frames rebuilding DC's economy to be 'less dependent on the federal government' as the complement to defending federal workers now under attack.
ምንጮች፦ [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)]
የዲሲን የበጀት እና የሕግ አወጣጥ ራስ-ገዝነት ከኮንግረስ ጣልቃ ገብነት መከላከል ለዲስትሪክቱ ተወካይ ቀዳሚ ቅድሚያ ሊሆን ይገባል።
Calls Congress's roughly $1 billion budget freeze 'a huge failure' that happened because 'nobody was paying attention — not our delegate, not our DC Council,' and argues the seat 'cannot just be reactive.' Pledges proactive, strategic vigilance to ensure DC controls 'its own revenue and its own destiny,' citing the beaten-back Medicaid-match cut as the model.
ምንጮች፦ [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)]
ተወካዩ በዲሲ ያለ የፌደራል መሬትን — እንደ National Park Service ቦታዎች እና ባዶ ወይም ትርፍ የፌደራል ህንፃዎች — ወደ አካባቢ የዲስትሪክት ቁጥጥር ለማስተላለፍ መሥራት አለበት።
Supports federal land transfers as 'a very important part of DC's economic growth' and wants DC to 'take advantage' of upcoming opportunities from vacated federal buildings — but qualifies that transfers are 'not the sum and substance' of an economic-growth plan, which she ties more to building a homegrown tech scene and recruiting major employers.
ምንጮች፦ [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)]
ዲሲ በዲስትሪክቱ ውስጥ የሚሰሩ ግን በMaryland ወይም Virginia የሚኖሩ ሰዎች ላይ የተጓዥ ግብር (commuter tax) መጣል አለባት (የፌደራል ሕግ ቢፈቅድ)።
The forum's strongest commuter-tax proponent: reframes the 'third rail' as a reciprocal 'shared asset fund' — non-residents who work in DC (and DC residents who work in MD/VA) pay in, with the revenue earmarked for shared regional needs like Metro, roads, healthcare, and the environment. Pairs it with her proposed regional 'Capital Caucus.'
ምንጮች፦ [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)]
ዲሲ የፌደራል Height Act ን እንዲሽር ወይም እንዲያላላ ኮንግረስን መግፋት አለባት፣ ይህም ዲስትሪክቱ ረዣዥም ህንፃዎችን እንዲገነባ ለማድረግ ነው።
'I want to amend the Height Act in Congress so that we have the ability to build taller in this city, and that will enable us to provide more affordable housing.' Pairs it with expanding and adding flexibility to the Section 8 voucher program (usable for first-time mortgages).
ምንጮች፦ [Washington Informer DC Delegate candidate forum (May 2, 2026)]
የፌደራል መንግሥት ለMetro (WMATA) ቋሚ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ቁርጠኝነት ማድረግ አለበት፣ እና ተወካዩ ይህን ለማረጋገጥ መታገል አለበት።
'Totally agree' that Metro needs permanent support: 'our regional and national partners need to help us protect it, grow it, and safeguard it because it's a jewel of our capital and the country.' A self-described 'serious public-transit family.'
ምንጮች፦ [Washington Informer DC Delegate candidate forum (May 2, 2026)]
የፌደራል ኮንትራት አሰጣጥ ኮንትራቶችን በዝቅተኛ ወጪ እና በክፍት ውድድር ብቻ ከመስጠት ይልቅ ለአካባቢ፣ ለአናሳ-እና ለሴት-ባለቤትነት ንግዶች (እንደ የዲሲ Certified Business Enterprises ያሉ) ቅድሚያ መስጠት አለበት።
Supports addressing contracting inequities now — 'you can't pretend everything's equal' when some firms didn't start 'at the same place' — while framing it aspirationally: 'I long for the day when everyone can compete on equal footing… when we've solved that problem.'
ምንጮች፦ [Washington Informer DC Delegate candidate forum (May 2, 2026)]
አጠቃላይ ምንጮች
- Issues — Kinney Zalesne for DC Delegate — Kinney Zalesne Campaign. የተገኘበት ቀን 2026-05-28.
- About Kinney — Kinney Zalesne for DC Delegate — Kinney Zalesne Campaign. የተገኘበት ቀን 2026-05-29.
- Meet the candidates running to be D.C.'s delegate to Congress — The 51st — The 51st. የተገኘበት ቀን 2026-05-27.