Should Puerto Rico become a state?

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They should be given statehood, just like DC. However, at the very least, both DC and Puerto Rico should be given the same representation as states. The fact that they don't right now is downright shameful.

Indeed. The D.C. has bigger population than Wyoming, yet doesn't have the same rights. I may be exxadurating, but it always seemed to me a bit colonial: direct federal rule and very limited, even now, self-government. The people of the District wants the statehood and should get one. If Brazilian Federal District and Australian Federal Territory have the same rights as other states, then there is simply no rationale, other than petty partisan considerations, to deny it to the D.C.

If Puerto Rico wants statehood (and at one point they voted to remain a "commonwealth") they should get one as well.

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It would have to be Maryland, as the land DC occupies now was all part of Maryland. Virginia got its land back in the 1800s. However, Maryland would have to agree to this, and they never would. Adding DC to the state would turn the state power structure on its head, let alone the other effects.

Right. There were many tensions between Maryland's D.C. area and other parts of the state over influence already. It's characteristic that between 1867 and 1994 the state did not elect a Governor from the D.C. area.

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Precisely. It's similar to the situation in the late 50s, when admission of Alaska and Hawaii was discussed. Republicans were reluctant to let Alaska in, because it would become a Democratic stronghold, while Democrats feared Hawaii will be a Republican one. Though partisan identification essentially flipped since then, there was "balance" preserved.

Now there's no other potential Republican state to balance admission of D.C., yet alone Puerto Rico.