From the Washington Post: Rep. Steny H. Hoyer will not run for reelection and end a nearly six-decade career in elected office that spanned his rising-star days in Maryland government to a two-decade run as the No. 2 U.S. House Democrat.
Hoyer, the third-longest-serving member of the House, said he reached the decision over the holidays with his family, feeling content with a career that never brought the brass ring of the House speaker’s gavel but put him at the center of this century’s biggest debates.
“At this young age, it’s probably premature,” the 86-year-old joked in a two-hour interview Tuesday at his sprawling home on the Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County.
Now three years out of leadership, Hoyer remains an active legislator but feared ending up like many other elderly lawmakers, becoming physically or mentally frail in their final days in office.
Steny has held a seat in U.S. Congress since May 1981. He formally announced during a speech on the House floor Thursday morning that he will not be seeking re-election.
“I have decided not to seek another term in the people’s House. I make this decision with sadness, for I love this House an institution the framers designed to reflect the will of the American people and to serve as the guardian of their liberty & their democracy,” he said.
.@RepStenyHoyer: I have decided not to seek another term in the people’s House. I make this decision with sadness, for I love this House an institution the framers designed to reflect the will of the American people and to serve as the guardian of their liberty & their democracy. pic.twitter.com/h3euRa0jwd
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 8, 2026
“I have decided not to seek another term in the People’s House. Representing the people of Maryland’s Fifth District has been my great privilege and sacred responsibility for 45 years. Thank you for electing me as your Congressman 23 times,” Hoyer also wrote on X Thursday morning.
I have decided not to seek another term in the People’s House. Representing the people of Maryland’s Fifth District has been my great privilege and sacred responsibility for 45 years. Thank you for electing me as your Congressman 23 times.https://t.co/gO7qac4qw0
— Steny Hoyer (@StenyHoyer) January 8, 2026
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