“This is not 1990 anymore. Seniority is not the way out of Trumpism,” says Democratic strategist Joel Payne.
When asked if she is running for re-election in next year’s midterms, Norton, the oldest member of Congress at 88, told Axios, “Of course.” The outlet also asked the octogenarian congresswoman about calls for her to embrace a generational change for her influential seat, to which she said, “I say that my seniority is what is very important, and I am not going to step aside.”
Norton, who was first elected to Congress in 1990, is considered a legend and hometown hero for D.C. residents. Over the years, she has consistently used her office to champion D.C. statehood. As a federal district and not a U.S. state, D.C. does not have a voting member of Congress despite its 700,000 residents being federal taxpayers.
Norton has built her political career advocating for statehood and the right for D.C. to govern itself without federal overreach. However, in recent years, reports of fellow Democrats noting her visible decline have raised alarm about her fitness to continue serving in Congress. Last week, Norton made her first public appearance since President Trump declared a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital, resulting in the deployment of the National Guard and a surge of federal law enforcement officers on D.C. streets.
Photos and videos of Norton’s appearance at a rally showed the 88-year-old politician holding onto the arm of one of her staffers while she walked.
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D.C.’s Eleanor Holmes Norton, oldest member of Congress at 88, says she’s not going anywhere