Greg Jaczko
Non-Voting Delegate to Congress — Democratic Primary, June 16, 2026
Not in DC Fair Elections ProgramGreg Jaczko (age 55) is a physicist and 27-year DC resident. He earned a PhD in physics and moved to DC where an AAAS science policy fellowship placed him in then-Congressman Ed Markey's office, applying science to policy. He went on to serve as senior advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, where he learned the art of coalition building. President Obama appointed him to chair the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) — a $1 billion agency with nearly 4,000 employees — where he stood up to powerful industries and led the international response to the Fukushima nuclear accident. After the NRC, he has developed offshore wind and solar projects and is a Lecturer at Princeton University. He is the son of an immigrant: his father was a Romanian-born refugee who spent his childhood in displaced persons camps before relocating to Venezuela and later emigrating to the United States. Jaczko supports full DC statehood ("Statehood Now") while also proposing to exempt DC residents and businesses from federal income taxes until statehood is achieved — framing it as "No Taxation UNTIL Representation." His Substack newsletter, "Naturally," goes further, calling for DC residents to withhold federal income taxes as an act of civil disobedience until Congress acts. On energy, he has detailed proposals to cut DC utility bills: (1) transition to a nonprofit public power authority — which he calculates would eliminate roughly $160M/year in Pepco profit ratepayers currently fund; (2) require data centers to bear the full infrastructure costs they create (data-center demand drove an 833% spike in PJM capacity prices for 2025–2026); (3) fix DC's rooftop solar SREC system, which he argues creates a regressive subsidy — 95% of ratepayers subsidizing the 5% who have solar — and projects a costly SREC undersupply in 2026. He supports progressive electricity rates so lower-income households pay less. On justice, he wants to get the federal government out of DC's local justice system. On immigration, he strongly opposes the Trump administration's detention policies — connecting them personally to his father's refugee experience — and calls for a humane immigration policy. He has also publicly opposed Trump's unilateral military strikes against Iran as unconstitutional, calling on Congress to deny the president war-making authority without a formal declaration.
Positions on the issues
All positions are sourced directly from the candidate's campaign materials, official questionnaire responses, or verified news coverage. Stances are rated on a scale from Strongly opposes (−2) to Strongly supports (+2). A stance of Unknown means no public position has been found.
Achieving DC statehood should be the top priority for the District's Congressional Delegate.
Supports full statehood as top priority ('Statehood Now'); frames tax exemption as an interim 'No Taxation UNTIL Representation' measure, not a replacement for statehood. Frames DC's federal territory status as an ongoing democratic injustice tracing back to the founding.
DC residents should be exempted from federal income taxes, like residents of Puerto Rico.
Proposes exempting DC residents and businesses from federal income taxes until statehood is achieved, framing it as 'No Taxation UNTIL Representation.' His Substack goes further, calling for civil disobedience — DC businesses and residents withholding federal income tax payments — to force Congress to act.
MPD should not assist ICE or other federal agencies in immigration enforcement operations within DC.
Strongly opposes Trump's immigration detention policies, calling them 'brutal' and 'illegal' — a position he connects personally to his father's history as a Romanian refugee. Supports getting the federal government entirely out of DC's local justice system so residents can set policies focused on prevention and rehabilitation.
DC should create a publicly owned electric utility to replace Pepco.
His signature cost-of-living proposal: 'Washington is the perfect place for a public power authority.' As a physicist and former NRC chair, he argues a nonprofit public power authority would eliminate roughly $160M/year in Pepco profit that ratepayers fund (about $25 of an average $190 bill), citing studies that public power customers pay ~13% less. Would introduce legislation requiring the buyout to complete within 18 months at residual value.
DC's Delegate should pursue statehood primarily by building bipartisan coalitions and legislative deals in Congress, rather than through confrontation and protest.
Rejects the patient legislative-coalition approach as having failed for over 200 years. His mantra is 'No Taxation UNTIL Representation,' and his Substack explicitly calls for civil disobedience — DC residents and businesses withholding federal income tax payments — to force Congress's hand. Favors confrontation and leverage over bipartisan dealmaking.
Defending DC's budget and legislative autonomy from congressional interference should be a top priority for the District's Delegate.
Frames DC's lack of control over its own revenue and budget as central to the injustice of its status: 'Congress constantly seeks to undermine and oversee our local budget,' and he will be 'a relentless voice against congressional — and presidential — interference, demanding that DC residents control their own revenue and their own destiny.'
The Delegate should fight federal attempts to take over DC's police department or to deploy the National Guard and federal agents in the city.
Cites National Guard troops 'deployed throughout the city' and federal incarceration as 'peculiarities' of DC's status, and pledges to 'fight to get the federal government out of D.C.'s local justice system' so District residents can shape policies accountable to their own communities.
DC should use all available legal tools — including litigation and public advocacy — to protect federal workers from mass terminations and defend federal agencies from relocation out of the District.
Entered the race 'motivated to help protect federal workers,' and describes the Trump administration as 'abusive to federal workers' and to the District. Opposes relocating federal agencies out of DC, citing the first Trump administration's failed move of part of the USDA to Colorado.
Sources: [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)]
The Delegate should work to transfer federal land in DC — such as National Park Service parcels and vacant or surplus federal buildings — to local District control.
Argues DC's 300-plus National Park Service reservations and other federal parcels 'have no business being part of the federal government' and would work to transfer them all to the District — but stresses that how the land is used 'is really a local decision' for the Council, mayor, and community, cautioning against attaching federal contingencies to the transfers.
Sources: [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)]
The Delegate should actively push for the impeachment of President Trump.
The clearest pro-impeachment voice in the field: calls Trump's conduct 'tyranny,' argues 'the constitutional remedy for tyranny is impeachment,' and pledges that 'when I get into Congress, I will advocate strongly for impeaching Donald Trump.' Faults Democratic leadership for tamping down impeachment talk before the midterms. Reiterated at the May 2 forum that 'one of the key issues we need to recognize is necessary is to talk about impeachment.'
Sources: [Hill Rag / East of the River DC Delegate candidate forum (May 14, 2026)], [Washington Informer DC Delegate candidate forum (May 2, 2026)]
The federal government should make a permanent funding commitment to Metro (WMATA), and the Delegate should fight to secure it.
Handled Metro funding (PRIIA) for Norton — 'so outdated and not nearly enough' — and notes the federal government 'was a partner in creating it, then abandoned us to fund it.' Supports federal funding but distinctively frames the underlying fix as statehood and 'equal footing with Maryland and Virginia.'
Sources: [Washington Informer DC Delegate candidate forum (May 2, 2026)]
Federal contracting should give preferences to local, minority-, and women-owned businesses (such as DC's Certified Business Enterprises), rather than awarding contracts solely on lowest cost and open competition.
Supports steering federal dollars to disadvantaged businesses, but frames it as an oversight-and-implementation question — 'it comes down to what's in the law' and making agencies follow existing statutes, with a concrete fix of getting set-asides into prime rather than subcontracts — rather than new preference points.
Sources: [Washington Informer DC Delegate candidate forum (May 2, 2026)]
General sources
- Platform — Greg Jaczko for Congress — Greg Jaczko Campaign. Accessed 2026-05-28.
- Greg Jaczko for Congress — Campaign Website — Greg Jaczko Campaign. Accessed 2026-05-29.
- Meet the candidates running to be D.C.'s delegate to Congress — The 51st — The 51st. Accessed 2026-05-27.