Rep. Steny Hoyer has drawn a primary challenger with a pointed message about the 85-year-old: The incumbent Maryland Democrat is too old to run again.
Harry Jarin, a 35-year-old volunteer firefighter and emergency services consultant who once competed on “Jeopardy!”, launched his campaign Thursday because he said Democrats need to "stop treating congressional seats like lifetime appointments.”
"When I started going around asking people whether I should do this, nobody could tell me that in their heart, they really thought Steny Hoyer at 89 years old [at the end of] the next Congress was the right person to represent us in this district,” Jarin said in an interview with POLITICO previewing his candidacy.
Hoyer — who has not said if he will seek a 24th term — was first elected in 1981. While in office, Hoyer has been a stalwart supporter of the party’s top issues. He was an early supporter of the ADA in 1990 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and as majority leader he played a key role in the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
A Hoyer spokesperson declined to comment. When Hoyer stepped back from leadership in 2022, he directly addressed his age, telling CNN: “Have you heard I was 83?”
“I think all of us have been around for some time and pretty much have a feel for the timing of decisions. And I think all three of us felt that this was the time,” Hoyer said at the time, addressing his decision and the decisions of Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn.
As the party continues to reckon with its November loss to President Donald Trump, Democrats have been looking for ways to inject new voices into the conversation. Those arguing for change say bringing in new people will bring new ideas to Congress, as well as new strategies for reaching an electorate that has soured on their party. But Democrats have tread carefully around the issue of age, particularly around former President Joe Biden — even in the wake of fresh questions about whether his decision to run for reelection amid his deteriorating condition set the party back.
Not Jarin.
Jarin acknowledged that his differences with Hoyer are “not necessarily ideological,” but rather rooted in his age. He cast the former majority leader as out of date with his approach, which he said was too incremental and unable to keep up in the changing media landscape that is so crucial to courting younger voters.
"Steny is still operating in this 1980s information environment where maybe he does some media hits and he stands on the floor of the House and makes a speech to an empty chamber and nobody's watching," he said. "We're not reaching young voters."
After a string of deaths among older Democratic members since the start of this Congress, Jarin said, it's time to make explicit the conversation about whether incumbents are too old to serve.
“I'm not trying to be cruel or callous," Jarin said, "but I want Democrats to win, and there are consequences for having this gerontocracy, and we have to reckon with that.”
Hoyer, who long served as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's second-in-command in the House before the two stepped back from leadership, is one of several senior Democrats who are facing primary challengers from younger generations demanding new leadership.
Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and Pelosi (D-Calif.), have all drawn opponents from within their party. After drawing a challenger, Schakowsky announced she would no longer seek reelection.
Democrats, of course, aren't the only ones to contend with age in office. Former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stepped back from his leadership role at the age of 82 after more than two decades of being the chief Senate Republican. And President Donald Trump, at 78, became the oldest president to be inaugurated in American history this January.
The party has also been roiled by DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, who has pledged to spend big on primaries against “ineffective, asleep-at-the-wheel” members of his own party.
Jarin has not spoken to Hogg about his potential support, but he flexed his ties to Democratic donors, including his husband, who he said bundled for Biden, and he thinks he will raise enough to put up a fight against Hoyer’s $573,000 cash on hand.
When Hogg announced his plan to primary incumbents, he specifically noted he would not back a Hoyer challenger.
Jarin said that the party has work to do as it sorts through its election losses from last year. The party’s focus on Trump, he said, has distracted from presenting an affirmative message to voters.
“We've been the anti-Trump party for the last 10 years, but what do we actually stand for?” he said.
Jarin said Democrats at all levels know that having too many older members can be a problem and says there's plenty of private support behind him.
But to win, his supporters will need to make their frustrations with older members clinging to their seats public.
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