Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is watching from the sidelines as voters prepare to select a new — and likely more confrontational — delegate for the District of Columbia.After more than three decades, Norton announced she would not seek reelection to a 19th term as the district’s nonvoting delegate. She did not endorse a successor in the race despite two former staffers running for the position.Whoever that successor is, they are likely to embrace a role as a White House antagonist as President Donald Trump looms over the race and the district.
As recently as last week, the president entertained invoking the Home Rule Act in Washington, D.C., which allows the federal government to control the Metropolitan Police Department for up to 30 days during emergencies. Trump previously invoked the rule in August 2025, declaring a public safety emergency.
“Well, I wouldn’t like it, and maybe we’d take back Washington and run it on the federal basis,” Trump said of mayoral front-runner Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist. “We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses. By the way, Washington, now, is a safe, beautiful place.”
Trump’s Oval Office comments drew sharp rebuke from Brooke Pinto, Robert White, Kinney Zalesne, and Trent Holbrook, the Democratic candidates for Norton’s seat.
