Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has announced that she is retiring from Congress at the end of the term.
“I’ve had the privilege of representing the District of Columbia in Congress since 1991. Time and again, D.C. residents entrusted me to fight for them at the federal level, and I have not yielded,” Norton said in a statement, adding, “The privilege of public service is inseparable from the responsibility to recognize when it’s time to lift up the next generation of leaders. For D.C., that time has come.”
“Although I’ve decided not to seek reelection, I will never falter in my commitment to the residents I have long championed,” she noted. “I will continue to serve as D.C.’s Warrior on the Hill until the end of my current term.”
Norton has held the seat since 1991.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser honored the delegate for her “remarkable career,” stating, “For 35 years, Congresswoman Norton has been our Warrior on the Hill – from securing shutdown protection for the city and the creation of DCTAG, to defeating continued attacks on Home Rule and leading historic votes in the House for DC Statehood. Her work embodies the unwavering resolve of a city that refuses to yield in its fight for equal representation.”
American Faith reported in October that the 88-year-old was in the “early stages of dementia” after she was the victim of a scam. Norton’s office pushed back against the claim and said at the time, “The medical diagnosis included in the police report was based on an assumption the reporting officer was unqualified to make.”
