Longtime Democratic strategist Donna Brazile on Tuesday called on congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), 88, to retire at the end of her term, adding that under the second Trump administration Washington, D.C., “is under attack as at no other time in recent history, and we need a new champion to defend us.”
In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Brazile, who once served as Norton’s campaign manager and congressional chief of staff, described Norton as a “dear friend of 44 years” and a “second mother” to her before noting that it’s time for her to pass the baton onto the next generation.
“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,” Brazile wrote of the nonvoting D.C. delegate. “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.”
Brazile, a former interim chair of the DNC, said that if Norton followed her advice and declared her intention to step down from her position next year, that would set the stage for a competitive race to succeed her.
“D.C. is under attack as at no other time in recent history, and we need a new champion to defend us,” Brazile said. “President Donald Trump is treating the District like a colonial possession he can rule as a dictator, rather than a city governed by leaders who are elected by voters.”
