Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., is an 18-term career politician… but the longtime Democrat is finally being ousted from office.
Norton raised just $3,227.30 between July 1 and September 30, leaving her reelection campaign with less than $7,000 in cash amid mounting pressure to retire.
Additionally, Norton’s campaign is $90,000 in debt to Norton, who personally loaned her reelection committee money earlier this year, according to a quarterly disclosure filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.
The 88-year-old Democrat has represented the District of Columbia in Congress as a non-voting member since 1991. She is the oldest current House member.
Norton faces a slate of Democratic primary challengers led by Kinney Zalesne, a former deputy national finance chair of the Democratic National Committee who became the first candidate to file FEC papers earlier this month.
The dismal fundraising comes weeks after Donna Brazile, Norton’s former campaign manager and congressional chief of staff, published an op-ed in The Washington Post calling on her retirement.
“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 wrote in September. “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.”
Brazile, 65, called Norton her “dear friend of 44 years,” her “role model and mentor” and “a second mother.”
“D.C. is under attack as at no other time in recent history, and we need a new champion to defend us,” Brazile wrote. “President Donald Trump is treating the District like a colonial possession he can rule as a dictator, rather than a city governed by leaders who are elected by voters.”
Recently, Norton appeared to struggle to walk on her own as she left a news conference about the federal crime crackdown in D.C. in early September. She held on to the arm of an aide who walked her up to the podium. After she spoke, Norton held on to the podium until the aide returned to help support her as she walked away.
Rep. Jamie Raskin told The New York Times in June that Norton was “an icon,” but added that “it’s going to take a new generation of leadership to win statehood and the battles of the day.”
Norton has repeatedly told reporters she plans to stand for reelection in 2026. Her office has walked back those claims on at least two occasions, but in September she told Axios that “of course” she is running for reelection. This time, her staff did not oppose her statement.
“I say that my seniority is what is very important, and I am not going to step aside,” Norton told reporters.
During the last election cycle, Norton raised just $19,220 and had only approxiamtely $1,400 cash on hand, although she had no debt at that time.
Brazile cited the example of other longtime elderly congressional lawmakers who announced they are retiring next year, including Rep. Jerry Nadler, Sen. Dick Durbin, and former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. All of them are younger than Norton.