The knives are officially out for 88-year-old D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, as her own former staffer has joined the growing chorus of Democrats calling for her retirement by filing to run against her in what's shaping up to be a brutal primary battle.
Trent Holbrook, 40, who previously worked as an aide to Norton, has thrown his hat into the ring to challenge the aging congresswoman who has held Washington D.C.'s non-voting delegate seat since 1991 – back when Bill Clinton was first taking office and the Berlin Wall had just fallen.
The challenge comes as even Democrats are admitting it's time for Norton to hang up her political spurs. As one Twitter user from @MakeTexasBlue22 put it bluntly: "Congresswoman, 88, faces own staffer, 40, in run for her seat. She did a great service to our country, time to move on and pass the baton."
Fox News reported the development on social media, noting that "prominent Democrats call for the 88-year-old delegate to step aside" as Holbrook filed his paperwork to challenge his former boss.
A Heated Primary Battle Brewing
According to WUSA9, Holbrook is joining what's already "a heated race" with "multiple primary contenders" lining up to challenge the octogenarian incumbent. It seems even D.C. Democrats have had enough of business as usual from their aging political class.
"Trent Holbrook joins a heated race for Eleanor Holmes Norton's Congressional Delegate seat, challenging an 88-year-old icon facing multiple primary contenders," WUSA9 reported on social media.
This internal Democrat civil war in D.C. shows just how desperate the party has become to refresh their aging leadership – though one has to wonder why it took them this long to realize that having leaders pushing 90 might not be the best look for a party trying to appeal to younger voters.
While Republicans under President Trump are focused on securing the border, cutting government waste, and putting America First, Democrats are stuck fighting over who gets to represent a city that can't even vote for president. Talk about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Will Norton finally take the hint and step aside gracefully, or will D.C. Democrats have to endure a messy primary to force out their nearly four-decade incumbent? Either way, it's clear that even the swamp creatures are tired of the same old faces.