David Catania

David Catania, November 2007

David A. Catania (born January 16, 1968) [1] is a politician from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. He is currently a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, where he serves as an independent, elected at-large (i.e., not from any specific ward or district of the city).

Catania was born in Missouri, and attended Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and School of Law. He was elected to the Council as a Republican in a 1997 special election and was elected to full terms in 1998 and 2002.

Catania was the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council and one of a small number of openly gay Republican office-holders. This led to a conflict within his party when President George W. Bush spoke in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution which would ban same-sex marriage. Catania opposed the amendment, and stated that he opposed Bush's 2004 reelection. In response, the District of Columbia Republican Committee de-certified him as a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention. In late September 2004, Catania left the party and became an independent, citing his displeasure with its direction on urban and social issues. He was re-elected in 2006 as an independent.

He was chair of the Economic Development committee and is now chair of the Health committee.