Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.
WASHINGTON — The campaign of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has served as non-voting representative for D.C. since 1991, has filed paperwork indicating that she will not seek re-election. Norton’s office had no comment when asked about the termination report.
She has not issued a statement about retirement. The lack of a comment from Norton, 88, raises questions about whether she directed the termination report or even knew that it had been filed. The most recent statement from Norton’s office was issued on Friday — regarding her successful work to allow sledding on Capitol Hill, including for children. The news was first reported by NOTUS. Norton, who is one of the oldest members of Congress, has faced months of pressure to announce her retirement. On two separate occasions in June, Norton told a reporter she was running for re-election, only for her office to walk it back soon after. “I’m going to run,” she told NBC News on June 25. “I don’t know why anybody would even ask me.” Norton spokesperson Sharon Nichols told Axios later that day, 'No decision has been made. She wants to run but is still discussing it with people closest to her.” In September, former Democratic National Committee interim chair Donna Brazile called on Norton to make this term her last. Brazile had previously served as Norton's campaign manager and chief of staff. 'She is no longer the dynamo she once was, at a time when D.C. needs the kind of energetic representation in Congress she provided for decades,' Brazile said in a September op-ed for The Washington Post. 'It’s in her best interest, and the interest of D.C., for her to serve her current term but then end her extraordinary service in Congress and not seek reelection next year.' One month later, Norton's office told NBC4 Washington that the delegate was scammed in her home by people who claimed to be part of a cleaning crew. Police said that the suspects charged her nearly $4,400 for work they did not perform. NBC4 Washington reported that the D.C. police report described Norton as having 'early stages of dementia' and said she had a caretaker with power of attorney, though her office pushed back. 'The Congresswoman employs a house manager who oversees all maintenance services, so she initially assumed her staff had arranged the visit and provided her credit card for payment,' her office told NBC4 Washington at the time. Amid media reports of Norton not seeking re-election, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Sunday congratulated Norton “on a remarkable career.” “Her work embodies the unwavering resolve of a city that refuses to yield in its fight for equal representation,” Bowser said on X. Robert White, a D.C. city council member, and Kinney Zalesne, a former Democratic National Committee official, have already jumped into the race for her seat. Several other members of Congress in their 80s will not seek re-election, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are among them. An NBC News analysis indicates that a dozen of the oldest members of Congress are running for re-election. Before dropping her bid, Norton had been the oldest member of Congress to be definitively seeking re-election.
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Longtime DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is ending her reelection campaign for CongressThe District of Columbia's longtime delegate is closing out her career in Congress.
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Longtime DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is ending her reelection campaign for CongressThe District of Columbia's longtime delegate is closing out her career in Congress.
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DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is ending her reelection campaign for CongressThe 18-term delegate for the District of Columbia in Congress and a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement has filed paperwork to end her campaign for reelection.
Read more »