D.C. Delegate Candidates Ignite Their Money Machines in Race to Succeed Eleanor Holmes Norton

The race to succeed D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is shaping up to be one of the most expensive in the district’s history.

And D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s campaign has grabbed an early financial lead. Her campaign on Saturday morning reported raising more than $843,000 between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, when it ended the period with $608,867 in cash on hand.

Pinto noted that more than 1,000 individuals have so far donated to her campaign, and that she has received donations from all eight D.C. wards.

“I’m overwhelmed by the groundswell of support our campaign has received since our launch just three months ago. D.C. residents from every corner of our city are standing up to demand real, proven leadership — from tackling public safety, improving our schools, to making D.C. the powerhouse of a 21st century, information-based economy,” Pinto said in a statement.

“Our campaign is powered by everyday people who know that D.C. deserves a champion on the Hill who can protect and explore new opportunities for our city and they’re the reason we’re going to win this race,” she added.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, and District of Columbia Councilmember Brooke Pinto chat after an event announcing the start of work on a new Capital One Arena Gallery Place Atrium on Dec. 19, 2024, in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Pinto’s campaign has also garnered support from prominent business owners around D.C., including iRobot CEO Gary Cohen, Jeffrey Forbes of the lobbying firm Forbes Tate Partners and the owners of well-known restaurants such as The Little Gay Pub, The Dubliner and The Park At 14th, according to its latest disclosure.

Fellow Councilmember Robert White’s campaign reported raising $230,399 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 and $151,819 in cash on hand at the end of the year.

But the campaign also reported $87,250 in debts and obligations — including $33,000 for political consulting, $13,200 for polling and $27,125 for administrative and compliance services — deflating the amount of money at its disposal. White also failed to file a required personal financial disclosure on time, in violation of a federal transparency and conflicts-of-interest law.

District of Columbia Councilmember Robert White attends a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 18, 2025. Tom Williams/AP

Kinney Zalesne, former deputy national finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, reported raising $158,000, including $50,000 Zalesne loaned to her own campaign on Dec. 23. Her campaign reported having $445,192 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.

Neither White’s nor Zalesne’s campaign immediately responded to requests for comment.

Trent Holbrook, Norton’s former senior legislative counsel, announced his campaign in early January, which means he won’t have to file his first campaign finance report until April. Holbrook was one of several Norton allies who urged his former boss to retire.

Since 1991, Norton has been reelected every two years to be D.C.’s nonvoting representative in Congress. But Norton announced last week that she would not seek reelection, officially clearing the field for her successor.

The cohort of Democratic candidates is crowded, and in a city as blue as D.C., the June 16 primary is essentially the general election. How much money they raised in recent months is just one barometer by which to measure their momentum.

To date, other candidates in the Democratic primary have struggled to gain traction.

Kelly Mikel Williams, who challenged Norton in 2022 and 2024, raised just $2,394 during the fourth quarter and had $1,444 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31, according to FEC records.

Gordon Chaffin, a former congressional staffer and “dog care professional,” reported raising just $125 during the fourth quarter. He has also personally loaned his campaign $16,348, and reported just $2,702 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.

“The cost of mounting a competitive political campaign has really pissed me off as a first time candidate. This is nuts. We can only restore affordability to life in D.C. if we elect people with a working person’s perspective,” Chaffin said in an email to NOTUS.

Williams’ campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Three other candidates — Deirdre Brown, Greg Maye and Vincent Morris — had not filed their disclosures by this story’s publication on Sunday morning.

Norton had maintained throughout 2025 that she would seek reelection.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. Tom Williams/AP

But her campaign reported raising just $2,520 during the last three months of 2025, and it raised just $7.50 between Jan. 1 and Jan. 25.

On the morning of Jan. 25, as a winter storm struck D.C., Norton filed paperwork with the FEC to “terminate” her reelection campaign, as first reported by NOTUS.

Two days later, Norton officially confirmed that she would retire from elected politics at the end of her current term, which expires in January 2027.