Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a video depicting herself as a “fighter” amid calls for her to step aside due to age concerns. 

Norton, first elected in 1990, is the oldest House member at age 88 and has faced questions about whether she is still fit to serve Washington, D.C.’s, residents.

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“You’ve got to have somebody who not only fights back but enjoys fighting back,” Norton, once known as the district’s “warrior on the Hill,” said in the video released Monday.

Concerns from district residents about her ability to push back in Congress, especially in a seat without a vote, appear not to have fazed her, as she said she plans to run for office again. 

“I’m going to run,” Norton told reporters last week.

District Councilwoman Brooke Pinto, a Democrat, has expressed concern over Norton’s ability to work with other members of the House to secure critical projects or funding for the city.

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“Our future depends in part on building relationships with the federal government and having an effective advocate in Congress on our behalf, and I do worry about where things stand right now with that advocacy,” Pinto told the Washington Post. “I don’t think it’s where it needs to be.”

House Democrats have had eight sitting members die in the last 2 1/2 years, magnifying criticism that older members should step aside from office. Three House Democrats have died since March. Had Democrats won the House in the 2024 election by a narrow one or two-seat majority, they would have already lost control of it.