Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has been the District’s nonvoting House delegate for more than three decades, officially announced Tuesday that she will retire from Congress after this year.
This comes on the heels of her campaign filing paperwork to terminate her reelection campaign, ending speculation over whether the 18-term Democrat would retire.
“Although I’ve decided not to seek reelection, I will never falter in my commitment to the residents I have long championed,” Ms. Norton, 88, said in a statement. “I will continue to serve as D.C.’s Warrior on the Hill until the end of my current term.”
She was facing mounting pressure to resign — and the need to address suspicions that she would be unfit to continue her service in office — ahead of a potentially contentious Democratic primary and amid criticism of her lackluster campaign fundraising.
Her campaign raised just over $2,500 since October and only $7.50 this month, according to finance records. From October to December, the District’s nonvoting representative spent around $5,000, including $1,500 on fundraising consulting services, and spent about $4,000 this month.
Challengers had already begun to line up against her.
Democrats vying for the position include City Councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Robert White, political strategist Kinney Zalesne, D.C. State Board of Education President Jacque Patterson and Ms. Norton’s former aide, Trent Holbrook.
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, also Ms. Norton’s former aide, had called on her old boss to bow out of the 2026 election.
Ms. Norton joins dozens of lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle who have announced their retirement. Her departure clears the path for the nation’s capital to pick a new leader to represent Washington on Capitol Hill.
“The privilege of public service is inseparable from the responsibility to recognize when it’s time to lift up the next generation of leaders,” Ms. Norton said. “For D.C., that time has come.”
