The oldest member of Congress, 88-year-old Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, brushed aside growing concerns about her age, saying that she will “of course” be running for reelection.
“I say that my seniority is what is very important, and I am not going to step aside,” Norton, a non-voting delegate representing the District of Columbia, told Axios.
Norton, who was born in 1937 and has served as a member of the House since 1991, has sparked concern among friends and colleagues who feel she has experienced a notable mental decline in recent years, the New York Times reported earlier this year.
The longtime advocate of home rule in DC’s refusal to retire is all the more pressing as her district has come increasingly under the direct control of the Trump Administration — but also follows a trend among aging congressional Democrats.
The issue came into the spotlight when New York Democrat Rep. Larry Nadler — who, at 78, is 10 years younger than Norton — announced this week that he’s finally throwing in the towel, citing the need for a “generational change” in the party.
Watching former President Joe Biden step aside for his Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election “really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party,” the 34-year congressman told the New York Times, “and I think I want to respect that.”
However, Rep. David Scott (DA-GA), 80, and Rep. John Larson (D-CT), 77, also confirmed they planned to run for re-election even amid worries 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!’”
Larson suffered a “complex partial seizure” on the House floor in February, freezing up mid-speech in what his team blamed on an adverse reaction to new medication. Concerns about Larson’s declining mental fitness have also been widely reported.
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.
Three elderly Democratic House members have died already this year, all over the age of 70: the Dems have lost Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), 75; Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), 70; and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), 77.
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