The reelection campaign of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C., is nearly broke as she faces a slate of Democratic primary challengers and questions about her political future.
Norton raised just $3,227.30 between July 1 and Sept. 30, according to a quarterly disclosure her campaign filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.
Her campaign had just $6,477.50 in cash on hand as of Sept. 30 and is $90,000 in debt to Norton, who personally loaned her reelection committee money earlier this year, disclosures indicate.
Norton, an 88-year-old Democrat who has represented the District of Columbia in Congress as a non-voting member since 1991, has repeatedly said she plans to stand for re-election in 2026 — a claim her office has walked back.
Some close allies and members of her own party are pushing for Norton to retire.
Some Democrats have openly questioned whether Norton can effectively represent a city that faces acute threats from Republicans to its autonomy and home rule, particularly after President Donald Trump in August declared a “crime emergency” and surged federal law enforcement and National Guard troops into the District. At times in recent weeks, Norton has been all but absent from debate over D.C.’s future.
“She is no longer the dynamo she once was, at a time when D.C. needs the kind of energetic representation in Congress she provided for decades,” Donna Brazile, who served as her campaign manager when she ran in 1990, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed last month. “It’s in her best interest, and the interest of D.C., for her to serve her current term but then end her extraordinary service in Congress and not seek reelection next year.”
Norton’s long tenure has largely insulated her from political challenges in recent years.
During the same period last election cycle, Norton raised $19,220 and had just over $1,400 cash on hand, although she also had no debt.
But viable Democratic primary challengers — including D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto and Robert White — have officially entered the race. Norton therefore finds herself in the unusual position of needing financial resources to fend them off ahead of next year’s June 16 primary — resources her campaign currently lacks.
Norton’s congressional office directed questions from NOTUS to her campaign committee, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.