Two Democrats who spent decades in Congress this week were the latest in their party and faced major challenges from a much younger enemy.
Longtime Maryland Rep. Steny Heuer has yet to announce whether he will seek reelection next year in his 24th term in Congress.
If so, he will face the major challenger making Hoyer’s age – the lawmaker will turn 86 next month and at the end of the next semester, he will be 89 – at the heart of his campaign.
Meanwhile, 78-year-old Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, who was elected to Congress almost half a century ago, announced last October that he would seek a six-year term in the Senate. He is now facing a major challenger who criticized what he called the “absence” of senators when opposing President Donald Trump.
Democrat vice-chairman ignites civil war and targets incumbents “sleeping on the wheels” in primary elections
Democrat Harry Jarin, seen in the campaign launch video, is a major challenge for longtime Maryland Democrat Sen. Steny Heuer. (Harry Jalin for Congress)
“If you live here in Maryland, I would like to ask you some tough questions,” volunteer firefighter and emergency services consultant Harry Jalin, 35, said in a new video announcing his candidacy on Thursday.
“This is the bottom line. We don’t put out the fire by sending the same people who spread it. We send firefighters,” Jarin said. “Maryland deserves a new generation of leadership and I’m ready to start the fight.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jarin said: “I think we are facing a really serious constitutional crisis. Congress has really declined as an institution over the last three or four years. Congress has abandoned many legislative powers to the exercise department under the Constitution.
Asked about his motivation to challenge Heuer, Jarin said, “It’s not just about welcoming young and fresh people. It’s gaining someone from someone who understands the need to revitalize Congress as an institution.”
Fox News reached out to Hoyer’s office for a response, but a spokesman refused to respond.
Hoyer, who first won a seat in Congress in the 1981 special election from 2003 to 2023, was the second-ranked House Democrat, behind D-Calif Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He served as a House majority leader from 2007-2011 and 2019-2023 when Democrats controlled the Chamber of Commerce.
Along with Pelosi, Heuer resigned from his long-standing leadership position at the end of 2022, but remained in Congress.
Democrats predict House Republicans will pay for passing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“I think we’ve all been around for a while and we’ve almost felt the timing of the decision, and I think all three of us felt this was back then,” Heuer said, adding that Jim Clyburn, Ds.C. – Resign from their leadership role.
Heuer has long been a leading supporter of top Democrats issues, and during his second tenure as a House majority leader, he played a key role in passing then-President Joe Biden’s so-called American rescue plan and bipartisan infrastructure law.
A longtime Democrat from Maryland, a former House majority leader, will face major challenges if he decides to seek re-election in 2026 (via Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Getty Images)
He represents the Democrat-controlled 5th Congressional District in Maryland. It covers the area known as southern Maryland and includes suburbs south and east of Washington, D.C., small pieces of suburbs of Baltimore and Annapolis suburbs, as well as rural areas further south.
Heuer, who suffered a mild stroke last year, is the latest High Rank House Democrat facing major challenges from his younger counterparts.
Pelosi, Brad Sherman of California and Jan Shakowsky of Illinois, brought out key challenges and later announced that Shakowsky would not run for reelection.
Jarin told Fox News that when he spoke to district voters about Hoyer, they were concerned about their incumbent age.
“The main reaction I got when I asked people about Steny Hoyer was first of all,” Jarin said. “The idea that he’s near 90 at the end of the next semester is just a bit of a nut for people. I think people are starting to handle just how extreme the situation is.”
The main challenge arises as the party is still trying to restructure following the election setback in November last year, when it loses control of the White House and its Senate majority and is short on their bids to regain the House.
The party’s bases are angry and have been opposed to Trump’s drastic and controversial moves for four months since he returned to the White House.
Moreover, much of that rage and energy is directed at fighting the White House and Congressional Republicans, some of which are aimed at Democrats who have not spoken enough to make efforts to stymie Trump.
At the same time, other longtime housing Democrats in the safe blue district face the potential of major challenges.
Democrat National Committee vice-chairman David Hogg has pledged to support the major challenges for the old House Democrats in the Blue District. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East/AFP via Getty Images)
This has pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political groups, David Hogg, the newly elected Democrat National Committee vice-chairman last month, supporting the key challenges for what he called the House Democrats “sleeping in palms.”
The move by Hogg, 25, a survivor of the horrifying shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida seven years ago, spent money on fellow Democrats.
“We reached out to David Hogg, we’re communicating,” said Jarin.
However, Hogg told the Washington Post last month that he would not support the main challenges for Heuer, Pelosi or Clyburn.
As for his ability to raise money for his campaign, Jarin said, “I’ve come from a politician.”
He said his husband was a major donor and bundler to former President Joe Biden’s successful campaign in 2020, serving as DNC treasurer, and that his uncle was “a major bundler of democratic causes for a long time.”
“I think a lot of donors realize this is a problem, but they may not be able to say it out loud because they are afraid of the impact,” he insisted.
“Darling has received some pushback from donors due to concerns that, rather than pouring resources into the swing sheet, the party aims to regain the majority of the home in 2026,” he said.
“My message to them is that getting a very old politician like Steny Hoyer into office for his 24th term is sending a message to voters that Democrats have made it clear that the message is not working,” he said.
In Massachusetts First candidate Alex Reclean -A father, former teacher and fantasy sports writer, I launched a major assignment for Marquee this week.
Reclean didn’t highlight the Senator’s age, but “Markey claimed he was standing quietly like many other Democrats. [Senate Democratic Leader] Chuck Schumer abandons Democrats’ “leverage” in his fight against Trump.
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey was seen at the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 2024, and is running for reelection in 2026 (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Reclean said he is “moving forward to challenge his incumbent,” as it shows Democrats won’t change courses themselves.
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He argued, “Senator Markey has been a great leader in progressive policy throughout my life, and he is mostly better than standing up for others. In a normal political environment, I will continue to vote for him proudly.”
However, Markey was very prominent this year as he attended protests and rallies in Massachusetts. And last month he traveled to Louisiana, urging the Trump administration to release Lu Mesa Ozturk, a student at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
Markey took her to social media on Thursday to once again defend Harvard in the fight against the Trump administration, pledging that “Massachusetts will not be bullied.”
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in swing state in New Hampshire. He covers campaign trails from coast to coast. ”
