She’s 88 years young, apparently.
The oldest member of Congress, 88-year-old Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, brushed aside fresh concerns about her age this week, declaring she will “of course” run for re-election.
“I say that my seniority is what is very important, and I am not going to step aside,” said Norton, the non-voting delegate representing the District of Columbia, in an interview with Axios.
Born in 1937, Norton has served in the House since 1991. Friends and colleagues have quietly worried about signs of decline, The New York Times reported earlier this year. But the veteran advocate of D.C. home rule shows no inclination to retire, even as her district has come increasingly under the direct oversight of the Trump administration.
Her defiance reflects a broader pattern among aging Democrats on Capitol Hill. The issue came into sharp relief this week when Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, at 78 still a decade younger than Norton, announced he would step down, citing the need for a “generational change” in the party.
Watching President Joe Biden yield the 2024 nomination to Kamala Harris “really said something about the necessity for generational change,” Nadler told The Times. “And I think I want to respect that.”
Yet others, such as Reps. David Scott of Georgia, 80, and John Larson of Connecticut, 77, are choosing another path. Both confirmed they will run again, despite lingering questions about their health.
“Generational change is fine, but you’ve got to earn it,” Larson told Axios. “It’s not like, ‘Oh geez, you know what, why didn’t I think of that? Now’s the time for me to step down because, well, it’s generational change!’”
Eleven of the 14 members of Congress over the age of 80 are Democrats. And with the exception of the House’s second-oldest representative, 87-year-old Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the next five oldest members are all Democrats.
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