Longtime D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton files to end reelection bid

Andrew Menezes and Justin Papp, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 25, 2026

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Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has filed to end her reelection campaign following months of scrutiny over her age and her ability to continue in her role as the capital’s nonvoting House member.

Citizens for Eleanor Holmes Norton, the campaign committee for the 88-year-old Democrat, filed a termination report Sunday with the Federal Election Commission, seemingly bringing to an end a House career that began with her first election in 1990.

According to the filing, Norton raised just $7.50 between Jan. 1 and Jan. 25 and had no cash on hand. She also brought in $2,520 during the fourth quarter of 2025, which ended Dec. 31. Her campaign has spent nearly $117,000 over the current cycle, the filings show, but raised less than $20,000. Norton also loaned her campaign $40,000 in June.

NOTUS was first to report on Norton’s latest campaign filing.

Norton, who’s said on multiple occasions that she would seek a 19th term, was already facing a crowded field of challengers in the Democratic primary, the definitive election in deep-blue D.C.

The election will be the District’s first competitive House race in more than three decades, with D.C. voters poised to elect their only third delegate since the position was reestablished in 1971. The delegate is one of the least powerful members of the chamber, with no vote on the floor in most cases and a charge to fight what has so far been an uphill battle for D.C. statehood.

Democratic candidates in the June 16 primary include D.C. councilmembers Robert White and Brooke Pinto; former Democratic National Committee and Justice Department official Kinney Zalesne; local ward Democratic chair Deirdre Brown; and former Norton aide Trent Holbrook.

White, also a former Norton staffer, paid tribute to her Sunday, “She fought for this city every single day, and it would be the honor of a lifetime to continue that work,” he said on social media.

Pinto, in a social media post, hailed Norton’s “incredible legacy,” adding that “after decades of service to our country, we owe her the respect to allow her to make her own announcement about her next steps.”

Over her three and a half decades in Congress, Norton built a reputation as an intense fighter on behalf of the District. She has repeatedly led legislation for D.C. statehood, with the measure advancing out of the House in 2020 and 2021, when Democrats controlled the chamber. The bill did not advance in the Senate.

More recently, though, Norton has generated more attention over concerns about her age and effectiveness. She’s been led arm-in-arm around the Capitol by staffers and has mostly stuck to scripted remarks. Critics said she did not respond forcefully enough to President Donald Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard and other federal officers throughout the city beginning in August.

Doubts about her mental acuity only increased in October, when she was scammed at her Capitol Hill home by a fake cleaning crew who charged thousands of dollars to Norton’s credit card for work they did not perform. An internal police report obtained by News4 Washington said Norton was in the early stages of dementia and has a caretaker with power of attorney, though her office pushed back on those assertions.