Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn running for Hoyer's seat

Mary Ellen McIntire, CQ-Roll Call on Feb 4, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn on Wednesday launched a second bid for Congress, announcing he would run to succeed retiring former House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer in Maryland.

Dunn, who garnered national attention for speaking out about his experience defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, placed second in a crowded Democratic primary for a different Maryland seat in 2024.

“Lawlessness isn’t always a mob. Now it comes with the title, a budget, a badge, a weapon, and lies from behind the podium,” Dunn said in a launch video. He compared the aggressive tactics of federal immigration and Border Patrol agents who have come under fire in Minneapolis in recent weeks to the actions of those who attacked the Capitol in 2021.

“So tell Donald Trump I’m coming back to the Capitol, this time with a vote, with oversight authority, with subpoena power, with the full constitutional authority granted to a member of the United States Congress,” he added.

Nearly a dozen Democrats have already entered the race for the deep-blue 5th District, which stretches from the Washington suburbs into Southern Maryland. And more candidates could join the race ahead of the Feb. 24 filing deadline. Hoyer, who is retiring after more than 40 years in the House, last month endorsed Delegate Adrian Boafo, his former campaign manager.

Dunn has proved to be a strong fundraiser. In 2024, he outraised the rest of the 22-person field for the nearby 3rd District in the Baltimore suburbs, bringing in $4.6 million. He later turned that campaign account into a political action committee, Dunn’s Democracy Defenders.

Still, Dunn lost the primary to state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, who took 36% of the vote to his 25% and went on to easily win the general election. Elfreth benefited from outside support from the United Democracy Project, the political arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In his launch video, Dunn touted his ties to the district, noting that he was born on Andrews Air Force Base and attended high school there, although he reportedly does not currently live in the district.

“This community raised me,” he said. “I know the people here, and I know what working families are up against.”

It’s not clear whether Maryland’s district lines could change ahead of its June primary. The Democratic-led state House this week approved a new congressional map that would give Democrats the advantage in all eight of Maryland’s House seats. The 5th District would remain safely Democratic under the new lines.

But the state Senate, also under Democratic control, doesn’t appear to have plans to immediately bring up the proposed map.