Longtime DC House delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton announces retirement

Eleanor Holmes Norton, a non-voting House delegate representing Washington DC, announced on Tuesday that she would not seek another term in Congress.

“With fire in my soul and the facts on my side, I’ve raised hell about the injustice of denying 700K taxpaying Americans in DC – the same rights given to residents of the states for 33 years,” Norton, 88, said in a post on X that included her full statement. “Now, with pride in our accomplishments, gratitude to DC, and confidence in the next generation, I announced I’ll retire at the end of this term.”

Elected to the House in 1990, Norton, a Democrat, became known for using the little power she had as one of six non-voting delegates – who can introduce bills and vote in committees, but not in the chamber – to the maximum extent possible.

Taking office at a time when Washington DC was struggling with decades of population flight, disinvestment and the emerging crack cocaine epidemic, Norton pushed Congress’s often-distracted lawmakers into approving policies that helped turn the city around. She equally led the charge, with uneven effects, to blunt federal efforts to meddle in the district’s affairs.

But her ultimate goal – along with the rest of the overwhelmingly Democratic city’s political class – was to achieve statehood for Washington DC, whose residents are granted three electoral votes in presidential elections, but no voting representation in the US House and Senate, despite its population of about 700,000 being greater than Wyoming or Vermont.

Norton was in Congress when the House in 2021 approved a bill to make most of Washington DC the 51st state. Vehemently opposed by Republicans, it lacked the support to pass the Senate.

In her final months in office, questions began to emerge about her fitness to continue serving in Congress. Once known as a forceful orator, she stuck to reading from prepared remarks or questions at committee hearings.

In 2025, she faced a primary challenge from a city council member, and NBC Washington reported that a police report described her as having “early stages of dementia”, after she lost more than $4,400 to a scam.