No worries about the mixup, but I’ll at least answer the core of your question anyway: DC is bigger than a handful of States by population, but it is still just

No worries about the mixup, but I’ll at least answer the core of your question anyway: DC is bigger than a handful of States by population, but it is still just a carve out from Maryland. You could make a case for any of the top 20 cities by population to be their own State, but you need a limiting principle. DC does not have proper representation in Congress, and I think that’s a shame and worth addressing, but there is also a case to be made for Congress having some territory that it directly governs. Only problem is DC became cool and a place where a lot of people live. My compromise is to leave the city itself to be administered by Congress and the government it setup there, but to have Maryland administer elections and put DC back under Maryland law for civil, criminal and tax purposes.