Veteran Democratic strategist Donna Brazile on Monday urged Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.), the oldest member of the House, not to run for re-election.
“D.C. is under attack as at no other time in recent history, and we need a new champion to defend us,” Brazile, Holmes-Norton’s first campaign manager and former chief of staff, wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
The political pundit argued the congresswoman’s vibrant energy has faded.
“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.
“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,” she continued.
As time goes on, Brazile said delaying the decision makes it harder for potential candidates to kickstart their campaigns.
Holmes-Norton’s office did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the matter, but they did affirm her commitment to seek re-election earlier this month.
“I say that my seniority is what is very important, and I am not going to step aside,” she told Axios.
Brazile said she’s raised her concerns with Holmes-Norton in person, advising her to “follow the example” of Democrats, including Rep. Jerry Nadler (N.Y.), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) and Danny K. Davis (Ill.), who announced they would retire this year.
“All these lawmakers, as well as former president Joe Biden, are younger than Norton,” Brazile said.
In recent months, concerns about Holmes-Norton have been raised by other pundits and elected officials online.
“Seniority isn’t valuable if you can’t do the job—as evidenced by the fact we’ve barely seen or heard from the Delegate during an incredibly difficult month for the District. We need a credible challenger,” Ashley Schapitl, a former local elected official wrote on the social media platform X.
“I know the rep for DC doesn’t have any actual power, but can’t help but think about what it’d be like — during this occupation — if DC had a 40-something energetic, feisty, media/social media-savvy rep using that platform to call attention to all the bullshit this admin is doing,” pollster Adam Carlson also said.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Holmes-Norton defended her decision, citing her push back amid President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard takeover in Washington.
“I put up a strong fight on D.C.’s behalf,” Holmes-Norton wrote in a statement.
“I understand the concerns some raise about my age. Those concerns, however, imply an alternative — a younger version of me with the benefit of all my knowledge and experience — that doesn’t exist.”