As part of a reinvigorated campaign to make D.C. the 51st state, Mayor Vincent Gray and several other district officials travelled to New Hampshire last week to rally support for the cause.

The trip was the first step of what officials hope will be a nationwide tour pushing for D.C. statehood. Gray and five city council members testified before the New Hampshire House of Representatives Friday after Rep. Cindy Rosenwald (D-N.H.) put the resolution on the legislature’s agenda.

“For me, the issue is not so much about statehood. I see statehood as a tactic to get what I see is really important, and that is full representation that is a right of American citizens,” Rosenwald said.

Though the bill was ultimately voted down, District officials plan to continue the push, according to DoxieMcCoy, a spokeswoman for the Mayor’s office.

“It is seeking D.C. democracy, voting rights, statehood. … It is something we are constantly pushing. … It is something we are constantly fighting for,” McCoy said. “We have to keep it in the public light and continue to use different tactics to try to reach our goals.”

Last year, the campaign for District statehood was re-energized after this spring’s Congressional budget crisis jeopardized the District’s ability to spend its own funds. Less than a week later, Gray was arrested in a protest for D.C. voting rights.

“It was worth being arrested,” Gray said in a press conference after his release from jail. “Enough is enough. We’re tired of being dictated to by people who don’t have a clue about the District of Columbia.”

According to McCoy, Congressional oversight of the D.C. budget is one of the major issues District officials have with the status quo.

“The biggest benefit [of statehood] is for the District to have autonomy — legislative autonomy, budget autonomy — and for the rights [of] the residents of the District of Columbia and those who are elected to represent them to have control [of] our finances and control [of] our laws,” she said.

Gray’s office remains hopeful that their efforts will eventually be successful.

“We are not letting [the New Hampshire] vote discourage us, and we are continuing to fight,” McCoy said.