{"id":22907,"date":"2026-05-18T08:47:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/d-c-delegate-candidates-pledge-to-raise-their-voice-after-nortons-long-fade\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:47:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:47:55","slug":"d-c-delegate-candidates-pledge-to-raise-their-voice-after-nortons-long-fade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/d-c-delegate-candidates-pledge-to-raise-their-voice-after-nortons-long-fade\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C. delegate candidates pledge to raise their voice after Norton\u2019s long fade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The fight for voting rights, self-governance and eventual statehood for the nation\u2019s capital has had one consistent national face for nearly three decades: House Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.<\/p>\n

Now the 88-year-old Democrat is retiring after having been a diminished presence<\/a> in recent years, and the candidates to replace her in Congress are debating how to redefine a job that comes with little concrete power but a significant public megaphone.<\/p>\n

They are seeking to balance the need to be an aggressive national advocate as President Donald Trump chips away<\/a> at the District of Columbia\u2019s autonomy with the delegate\u2019s historical role as a behind-the-scenes operator who works inside the halls of Congress to get things done on the city\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

Norton, who came of age in the Civil Rights Movement, saw success on both fronts. She helped engineer aid for the city in the 1990s and secure local control of key federal property, among other lobbying triumphs. She also occasionally garnered national attention for the city\u2019s status \u2014 including multiple viral appearances<\/a> on \u201cThe Colbert Report.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Norton has hardly been a cable-news fixture or social-media standout, and many of the younger candidates to replace her are hoping to change that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that, where we are in history, the delegate needs to have a higher national profile,\u201d Robert White, one of two D.C. Council members in the race, said in an interview. \u201cBecause people can’t support an issue that they don’t understand, so I need to make sure the rest of the nation understands D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooke Pinto \u2014 the other local legislator who, like White, is considered a front-runner \u2014 played up the communications demands while also saying the more prosaic parts of the job cannot be neglected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis seat has to be held by someone who can manage that legislative process and build those coalitions,\u201d Pinto said, \u201cbut also can be an effective and authentic messenger to people across the city, across the country and across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinto, 33, and White, 44, are battling ahead of the June 16 election for the Democratic nomination \u2014 which tends to guarantee victory in the deep-blue District \u2014 alongside former federal nuclear regulator Greg Jaczko, former Norton aide Trent Holbrook and former Justice Department and DNC official Kinney Zalesne. It is the first time since 1990 that Norton won\u2019t be on the ballot.<\/p>\n

The victor will inherit what is both one of the most consequential political offices in the District and one of the least inherently powerful. Delegates do not get a vote on the House floor, denying them the foundation of political clout in the House, but Norton was able to carve out spheres of influence on the Oversight and Transportation committees and as a key intermediary on matters involving the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the power is not in law, it is in tradition,\u201d White said. \u201cIf the next person stepping into the role doesn’t know where the power is, it’s gone, and it will take at best several decades to reaccumulate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s recent hardball moves \u2014 including commandeering the D.C. police department for a time and sending in National Guard troops to patrol the city, not to mention undermining the city\u2019s economy by decimating the federal workforce \u2014 have put more emphasis on resistance tactics than backroom operating.<\/p>\n

Pinto said she would bring D.C. residents into other states to educate them on the city\u2019s unique issues, arguing there must be electoral consequences for lawmakers who fail to support D.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to really support our friends who are pro-D.C. statehood,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we have to make clear to people who are not supportive that they are not on this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statehood has long been the north star for D.C. activists, but it has not been a front-burner issue for national Democrats. Norton spent years pursuing efforts to gain only partial congressional voting rights for the city but later engineered a pair of successful House votes backing statehood, which was also added to the 2024 Democratic platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While D.C. statehood would mean adding two likely Democrats to the Senate as well as a full member of the House, party leaders have not fully embraced the issue \u2014 even when they last controlled Congress and the White House under former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n

Several candidates said they would be pushing their fellow Democrats to put the District closer to the top of the party\u2019s priority list.<\/p>\n

\u201cD.C. issues are on the list of Democratic priorities, but they’re never at the top,\u201d Zalesne, 59, said. \u201cSo in order to elevate our issues, we have a lot of relationship-building to do and a lot of advocacy and persuasion to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holbrook, 40, said in an interview he would \u201cbe a little bit more aggressive in calling out people who attack our home rule, especially the Democratic side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zalesne is leaning heavily on her party-insider cred in her campaign, touting endorsements from Democratic Reps. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez of New Mexico, Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.<\/p>\n

White has the backing of PACs affiliated with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), while Pinto has the support of Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.).<\/p>\n

White has also talked about campaigning in swing districts and targeting lawmakers who have gone after the city. But he is also making the case that Democratic Party leaders should embrace D.C. statehood as a way to offset recent GOP political hardball: If Democrats can invest in redistricting to gain a political edge, he argued, why shouldn\u2019t they also promote statehood?<\/p>\n

The new delegate will have to build close ties with a relatively new House Democratic leadership team fronted by New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who has consistently voted to protect D.C.’s autonomy but said little about expanding it.<\/p>\n

The irony is that many of the District\u2019s biggest congressional wins in recent decades have come only with the participation of Republicans. A longtime Norton goal \u2014 transferring the land under RFK Stadium to city control for development \u2014 occurred in 2024 with the backing of scores of GOP lawmakers.<\/p>\n

That has candidates like Pinto appreciating the tightrope Norton walked for so many years, even as they pledge to inject more energy into the office she held.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to build on that legacy, and I also recognize that in 2026 \u2026 with a hyperpartisan political environment, we also have to do things a little bit differently,\u201d Pinto said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fight for voting rights, self-governance and eventual statehood for the nation\u2019s capital has had one consistent national face for nearly three decades: House Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. Now the 88-year-old Democrat is retiring after having been a diminished presence in recent years, and the candidates to replace her in Congress are debating how to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}