As she prepares for her first run for office, congressional delegate candidate Kinney Zalesne has one thing to say to voters: “I’m the only one who’s ready to deliver for D.C. on day one.”
The former campaign manager, businesswoman and GDS parent announced her candidacy for D.C.’s congressional delegate in July. D.C.’s sole delegate to Congress can introduce bills and vote in House committees but cannot vote on the final passage of legislation on the House floor like other representatives, something local officials have long sought to change.
Zalesne worked on political campaigns in 1996–97 for President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. In 2024, she served as the co-chair for Women for Harris-Walz (formally named Women for Biden-Harris), a program created to mobilize female voters and increase the number of women in the highest levels of government through social media outreach and online webinars.
“America is in the greatest danger of my lifetime, and I think D.C. is on the front lines,” Zalesne said. “I tried for a little while to nudge around the edges—sending in memos or supporting candidates. But I realized this is getting worse, not better; no one is coming to save us. And we have to be the leaders we wish we had.” Zalesne emphasized recent National Guard deployments, increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence and job cuts in D.C.
Zalesne earned a law degree from Harvard University and worked at a law firm in Philadelphia before moving to D.C. in 1995 to work for Gore, but in 2000, her career shifted toward business ventures. Zalesne was CEO of her own corporate strategy startup, Zalesne LLC, for four years. In 2022, she reentered politics because of her increasing concern about the direction that both the city and the country were headed in, and she assumed the role of deputy national finance chair for the Democratic National Committee.
Incumbent D.C. delegate and former GDS parent Eleanor Holmes Norton announced on Jan. 27 she would not seek reelection after holding the position for 35 years. Norton, like Zalesne, advised Fortune 500 companies before stepping onto the political scene. “When [Norton] took the role 34 years ago, she brought with her an already established national network,” Zalesne said. “That’s what I want to offer the city now; I don’t want us to go backwards and choose someone who has had less experience than that.”
One challenge Zalesne would hope to prioritize in office is D.C.’s lack of representation in Congress. “It’s a national disgrace that D.C. doesn’t have full voting rights,” Zalesne said. “There is no other democracy on earth that deprives the citizens of its capital city the right to vote in the federal legislature.” If elected, Zalesne said she would fight for full budget autonomy, House voting rights and, ultimately, statehood.
“The only way [statehood] will come about is through some kind of grand bargain where the Democrats get something and the Republicans get something,” Zalesne said. “It will take a spirit of cooperation and shared interest to make that happen.”
Zalesne said the main concerns of D.C. voters could be sorted into two categories. “The number one bucket is Trump,” Zalesne said. “The second set of issues—which are a close second—is the cost of living .”
Since assuming office last January, President Trump has taken control of federal education agencies and law enforcement, deploying hundreds of National Guard troops and mobilizing ICE agents throughout the District. Zalesne condemned these efforts as personal attacks by the president on D.C. residents. “The number one issue seems to be just outrage and sadness, that we feel under attack by our own president,” Zalesne said. “And it feels dangerous, it feels disrespectful, and it feels wrong.”
And while Zalesne asserted her strong opposition to President Trump, she believes the best way forward is with a strong collaboration between the local and federal government.
Zalesne isn’t the only GDS parent running for local office in this year’s D.C. election; former at-large councilmember Kenyan McDuffie officially launched his campaign for D.C. mayor in January.
“GDS does have a pervasive spirit of public service,” Zalesne said. “A lot of us as parents are drawn to the school for that reason. And then also, the more we interact with the school, the more we get back that spirit.”
Zalesne said she is dedicated to improving D.C.’s public school system so that “every kid, no matter what neighborhood they grow up in, has the chance for the best possible education.”
But Zalesne also admitted that it’s fair for voters to question her understanding of the D.C. public school system when she sent her own children to an independent school. “Eleanor Holmes Norton also sent her son to GDS, so how bad could it be?” Zalesne joked. Proceeding to adopt a more serious tone, she said, “I think all parents want the very best possible opportunities for their kids. That’s why I’m committed to doing what I can to improve schools across the District.”
In an effort to ensure she’ll address voters’ main concerns, Zalesne has used the last few months to travel the District. “I spend time in all eight wards getting to know people in nonprofits, [people] working in small businesses, [people] taking care of their families,” Zalesne said. “When you’re a candidate, you get to know the city in an even deeper way.”
Zalesne has often heard the position she is running for referred to as the “non-voting delegate” because, unlike the states’ House representatives, D.C. cannot vote on the House floor. “I have resolved never to call it that again because I don’t want to define the job by what it’s not,” Zalesne said. “I want to define the job by what it could be. And I think it can be huge.”