Washington, D.C., Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton on Tuesday officially announced her retirement from Congress, clearing the path for a new generation of leadership on Capitol Hill.
“With fire in my soul and the facts on my side, I’ve raised hell about the injustice of denying 700K taxpaying Americans in DC the same rights given to residents of the states for 33 years. Now, with pride in our accomplishments, gratitude to DC, and confidence in the next generation, I announced I’ll retire at the end of this term,” Norton said in a statement, acknowledging for the first time publicly that she had ended her reelection campaign.
Norton’s announcement comes more than 48 hours after her campaign filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to terminate her reelection effort, which NOTUS first reported Sunday.
It also ends months of speculation about Norton’s political future, fueled by concerns about her age and mental acuity that had even her closest allies and members of her party calling on her to consider retirement after 18 terms.
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Norton’s statement failed to address why she waited more than 48 hours to address the campaign termination report she filed with the FEC on Sunday, which sparked speculation among political watchers and even The New York Times over whether Norton herself even knew her 2026 campaign had ended.
Norton did not acknowledge the speculation in her statement, but vowed to serve out the remainder of her term.
“Although I’ve decided not to seek reelection, I will never falter in my commitment to the residents I have long championed. I will continue to serve as D.C.’s Warrior on the Hill until the end of my current term,” Norton said.
Dubbed D.C.’s “Warrior on the Hill” by her supporters, Norton has been reelected as the district’s nonvoting representative every two years since 1990. But at 88, Norton is the oldest member of the House, and her constituents have questioned whether she is the right person to fight Republicans’ increasing incursion on D.C.’s home rule or President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal immigration officers and National Guard throughout the city.
Norton’s office has also had to repeatedly temper the delegate’s statements to reporters that she was indeed running for reelection in 2026. Her decision to not run is a tacit acknowledgment of the realities of age — and a broader debate about the advanced age of many lawmakers on Capitol Hill. (Four members of Congress have died since the 119th Congress was sworn in last January.)
But Norton struggled to fundraise during 2025 while maintaining she was seeking reelection in 2026.
Her campaign raised just $3,227 during the third quarter of 2025 and $2,520 during the fourth — while spending more than $23,000 on fundraising consulting during the same period.
Norton’s campaign raised just $7.50 between Jan. 1 and Jan. 25, according to the termination report. Her campaign closed with $0 cash on hand and in $90,000 in debt to Norton herself.
Meanwhile, an unprecedented slate of Democrats assembled to challenge Norton in the 2026 primary, which in liberal Washington, serves as a de facto general election.
Several of those candidates praised Norton’s legacy and impact on the city — and themselves — after NOTUS first reported the long-serving delegate had terminated her campaign.
“As a fifth-generation Washingtonian, from an early age I looked to Congresswoman Norton as a model of what public service should be,” D.C. Councilmember Robert White, one of the Democratic candidates running to succeed Norton, wrote on X.
White called Norton’s name “synonymous with authentic leadership.”
Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who is also running in the D.C. delegate Democratic primary, wrote in an X post to argue 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.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser, who herself is not seeking reelection, congratulated Norton on her “a remarkable career.”
“Her work embodies the unwavering resolve of a city that refuses to yield in its fight for equal representation,” Bowser wrote Sunday in a post on X, which included a highlight reel of Norton’s tenure.
Randy Clarke, CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, also congratulated Norton on “an amazing life of service to DC & our country.”
This praise — before Norton herself had made any formal statement about her own political future — served to highlight the extended silence from Norton’s campaign. NOTUS called, texted and emailed the campaign repeatedly for comment, but neither NOTUS nor other media outlets similarly seeking comment received responses.
Before Norton released her statement, a source familiar with her campaign’s decision — and who was not authorized to speak on the record — told NOTUS they did not understand why the campaign waited so long to respond. The source said they unsuccessfully pushed the campaign to send their announcement early Sunday so Norton’s voice could be included in the barrage of stories after NOTUS broke the news of the termination report.
Norton has not endorsed any of the candidates in the Democratic primary, slated for June 16, to succeed her.
“I lean towards expecting that she won’t endorse anyone, because she’s been careful not to tip the scales on other issues when D.C. hasn’t decided yet,” the source told NOTUS.
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