WASHINGTON — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is leading the U.S. Senate fight for D.C. statehood even as his state competes with Washington to be the future home of the NFL’s Commanders.

Van Hollen, a Democrat, has taken over this year from Sen. Tom Carper, the now-retired Delaware Democrat, as chief sponsor of legislation that would make the District the 51st state, placing it — according to the bill — on “equal footing with the other States in all respects.”

The legislation would retain a federal area known as the “Capital,” including the White House, Capitol building and principal monuments.

“Every American should have a full vote in our country’s future, but we fall short of this promise every day that the residents of the District of Columbia are denied that right in Congress and subjected to taxation without representation,” Van Hollen said in introducing the bill last week.

Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Van Hollen’s newly-elected Maryland colleague, is a co-sponsor.

Alsobrooks told The Baltimore Sun during last year’s campaign: “I support statehood for D.C., but me and the mayor are going to have a little battle over the Commanders.”

Alsobrooks, the former Prince George’s County executive, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has strongly advocated for the Commanders’ return to D.C., where they played at RFK Stadium before moving to Prince George’s County in 1997.

The District has no U.S. senators or voting U.S. House members. It does have a delegate, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, who participates in committee business but can’t vote on the floor.

Republicans, who control the Senate and House, have expressed little interest in D.C. statehood. Because the District is Democratic-dominated, statehood would likely mean the addition of more Democrats to Congress.

But Washington’s statehood drive has long been supported by Democratic Maryland lawmakers even as the state competes with the District as the future site of the NFL team’s stadium.

In December — during the final days of the previous Congress — Washington leaders gained congressional approval for legislation giving the District control of the federally owned land on which the team played games at RFK Stadium.

Van Hollen and Democratic Maryland colleague Ben Cardin, who has since retired from the Senate, expressed reservations about the legislation until they received assurances from the team that the Landover site would not be an eyesore if the club left and slow efforts to revitalize the area.

The senators said they got the commitment they wanted and agreed to support the legislation.

But they also said they were not conceding the team’s departure, and the club says no decision about relocation has been made.

Fans have long complained that Northwest Stadium, formerly FedEx Field, lacks character and tradition and is not easily accessible to Metro.

The team has called the RFK Stadium site its “spiritual home.” The old RFK Stadium is antiquated and will be razed, and a new stadium would need to be built.

Have a news tip? Jeff Barker can be reached at jebarker@baltsun.com.