DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton ends reelection campaign
Eleanor holmes Norton, Washington, D.C.’s longtime delegate to Congress,has ended her reelection campaign,a move disclosed in a Federal Election Commission filing that also detailed her campaign finances.Norton, 88, faced mounting scrutiny over her age, health, and mental acuity after a widely publicized incident in October in which scammers targeted her; a police report cited “early stages of dementia” and named Jacqueline Pelt as Norton’s caretaker and power of attorney. Norton’s office disputed the report’s medical conclusions and described Pelt as a longtime employee and friend who lives separately. Norton had served as the district’s delegate for more than 34 years and previously resisted calls to step aside; several Democrats had already launched campaigns citing concerns about her fitness for office.
DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton ends reelection campaign
Washington, D.C.’s delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ended her reelection campaign on Sunday.
The development was revealed in a Federal Election Commission filing, which included descriptions of her campaign’s finances. Norton, 88, ended her campaign after heavy scrutiny surrounding her age, health, and mental acuity.
Norton had previously weathered the reckoning around elderly members of Congress, repeatedly rebuffing calls to step aside for a younger candidate. She has served as Washington’s delegate to Congress for over 34 years.
“I’m going to run,” Norton told reporters for Politico and NBC News in June when asked if she would run for reelection in 2026. “I don’t know why anyone would even ask me.”
Several Democrats launched campaigns before she opted against running for reelection, with most centering their campaigns on concerns over her age and health.
Concerns around Norton’s mental acuity were laid bare in October when she was taken advantage of by scammers posing as HVAC cleaners. A police report described Norton as having the “early stages of dementia,” something not previously known. A woman named Jacqueline Pelt was identified as Norton’s caretaker and power of attorney.
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON SCAMMED BY FAKE CLEANING CREW AS POLICE SAY DC DELEGATE HAS DEMENTIA
Norton’s office denied several details of the police report. They objected to the description of Pelt, instead describing her as “a longtime employee and friend [who] serves as the house manager, residing at a separate address.”
Norton’s office also denied she had dementia, saying, “The medical diagnosis included in the police report was based on an assumption the reporting officer was unqualified to make.”
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