A native Missourian, Catania earned a B.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland Bars, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the American Bar Association and the Prettyman-Leventhal American Inns of Court.

David Catania was the first openly gay person to win election to the DC Council, and the first Republican to defeat a Democrat in a head-to-head race since the advent of Home Rule in the District.

As a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, David Catania is regarded as a hardworking and effective policymaker. First elected as an At-Large Councilmember in a special election in 1997, Catania was re-elected to a full term on the Council in 1998 and again in 2002.