FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2025
Kinney Zalesne Announces Run for DC Delegate
Longtime Washingtonian and national leader enters race to fight for full representation
WASHINGTON, DC - Kinney Zalesne, a former Co-Chair of Women for Harris and a respected leader across government, business, and nonprofit sectors, announced her candidacy today for DC Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“DC deserves power, real power,” said Zalesne. “We live in the capital of the free world but have less freedom than almost anywhere else in the country. Congress blocks our budget, overturns our laws, and sidelines our voices. I’m running to work with people across the District to make sure our voices are heard and to be relentless in fighting for our right, our economy, our schools and our future.”
Zalesne moved to DC in 1995 to serve as a White House Fellow and never left. Over the last three decades, she and her husband Scott have raised four kids in the city while dedicating themselves to community life—through DC schools, pools, parks, and nonprofits.
She has worked across government, business, and nonprofit sectors - serving as Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno at the Justice Department, helping lead corporate strategy at Microsoft, and running a national nonprofit that started in a basement in Adams Morgan and has helped thousands of students in DC get to college. She has also played a key role in Democratic politics, including as Deputy National Finance Chair of the DNC and National Co-Chair of Women for Harris.
Praising the legacy of Eleanor Holmes Norton, Zalesne said, “It’s time to send someone to Congress who is just as relentless, just as unafraid. I know how to build a bridge—and I know how to pick a fight, too. This is our city. And I’ll fight for every neighborhood and every family like everything is on the line. Because it is.”
