A three-term D.C. Council member said Thursday that he will launch a bid for the House seat held by fellow Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has been Washington's nonvoting delegate in Congress since 1991.
In a video social media, council member Robert White said that he is "ready to take this torch" and that the city needs "our best fighters right now. I have never seen my city more vulnerable than we are right now."
At 88, Norton is the oldest member of the House. She and her office have given mixed messages about whether she will seek re-election next year.
Norton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on White or her re-election plans.
Democrats in particular are assessing age as a factor in electability after former President Joe Biden dropped out of last year’s presidential race and three House Democrats died in office this year.
Norton this month appeared to struggle to walk on her own as she left a news conference about the federal crime crackdown in D.C. She was seen holding on to the arm of an aide who walked her up to the podium. After she spoke, Norton seemed to hold on to the podium until the aide returned to help support her as she left.
In recent months, Norton has faced increased calls from Democrats to step aside, including from Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who managed her 1990 campaign when she was first elected to Congress.
Brazile wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post this week that Norton should not seek re-election in 2026, saying “we need a new champion to defend us” after the Trump administration federalized the National Guard on Washington’s streets last month.
White, 43, praised Norton in his video announcement, calling her "our lion on the Hill" and saying that she had "protected" Washington for decades and that she was "someone whose work inspired me so much."
White, who chairs the D.C. Council's Housing Committee, was legislative counsel in Norton’s congressional office earlier in his career.
