A prime staffer for longtime DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced Wednesday he plans to run for her non-voting seat in Congress.
Former senior legislative counsel Trent Holbrook’s plan to challenge Norton comes because the 88-year-old Democrat has confronted rising considerations about her age and health for workplace.
“I don’t see myself as running against Congresswoman Norton,” Holbrook informed NCS in an interview Wednesday. “I just don’t think that that she is going to run again, at least not an effective way.”
Holbrook, who left Norton’s workplace after greater than eight years on Monday, stated he’s greatest positioned to tackle the function in half due to his work in Norton’s workplace.
“As the District of Columbia is looking to a new era in the fight for D.C. statehood and protecting home rule, I feel that I am best positioned to take on this incredibly important role. I have already been the leader in Congress at the staff-level for eight years on these important issues, and I have a strong, historic record of success to run on,” Holbrook stated in a information launch earlier Wednesday.
NCS is reaching out to Norton’s workplace for remark. Holbrook filed official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission launching a fundraising committee on Monday.
The Washington Post first reported on his bid for workplace Tuesday.
Holbrook’s and Norton’s paths converged throughout his time at Georgetown Law School, when the former prime aide took a yearlong class taught by Norton. After becoming a member of her workplace in 2017, Holbrook rose in the ranks from legislative assistant to senior legislative counsel.
“Congresswoman Norton is one of the greatest lawmakers in American history. She has trained me for this position unlike anybody else. I am grateful for the opportunities she afforded me. Because of them, I am ready to lead,” Holbrook stated in the discharge.
Holbrook informed NCS he had a great dialog with Norton about his plans to run shortly earlier than the vacation, and he expressed pleasure about his marketing campaign and objectives if elected, together with key coverage concepts on DC statehood, federal worker protections and DC residence rule.
Norton, a born Washingtonian, has positioned civil rights work on the heart of her profession. Prior to her 18 phrases in Congress, Norton was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to function the primary girl to chair the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While Norton can not vote in Congress as a delegate, her dedication to DC statehood and equal rights could be traced all through her practically three many years on Capitol Hill.
In latest months, Norton’s older age and rare public appearances have prompted questions on her present suitability for workplace. Norton, the oldest sitting House member, is a part of a rising group of politicians whose ages have sparked debates over time period limits in Congress.
Last September, former Democratic National Committee chair and the delegate’s former chief of employees, Donna Brazile, printed an op-ed in the Washington Post in which she discouraged her shut good friend from in search of reelection, stating that Norton is “no longer the dynamo she once was.”
“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,” Brazille wrote.
Holbrook informed NCS his determination to run was not about age.
“It’s not really about age, but I think a lot of people in DC are looking at that and I, instead of focusing on that, I focus on my record. I’ve worked for her for so long,” Holbrook stated.
The DC delegate seat in Congress comes with challenges, distinctive to town it represents. As President Donald Trump’s imaginative and prescient for DC has manifested in modifications to public establishments and a surge in federal legislation enforcement, questions concerning the stability between DC’s autonomy and federal oversight in the capital persist. Despite missing the power to vote, the singular DC delegate’s voice will get amplified by way of ground debates and congressional committees.
The race for DC’s congressional seat has widened, with greater than a dozen candidates, together with outstanding district lawmakers, seeking to take the workplace held by Norton since 1991. Among these vying for the seat are DC State Board of Education President Jacque Patterson, Democratic National Committee official Kinney Zalesne and DC Councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Robert C. White Jr.
This story has been up to date.