Two longtime House Democrats face primary challenges from younger opponents

Two Democrats who've spent decades in Congress this week became the latest in their party to face primary challenges from much younger opponents.

If he does, he will face a primary challenger who is making Hoyer's age - the congressman turns 86 next month and would be 89 at the end of his next term - a centerpiece of his campaign.

Harry Jarin, 35, a volunteer firefighter and emergency services consultant, said Thursday in a new video announcing his candidacy, "If you live here in southern Maryland, I want to ask you a tough question. Do you really think that Steny Hoyer, at 89-years-old, is the best person to represent us?" 

"Here's the bottom line: You don't put out a fire by sending in the same people who let it spread. Send in a firefighter," Jarin said. "Maryland deserves a new generation of leadership, and I'm ready to take up the fight."

Asked about his motivation to primary challenge Hoyer, Jarin said, "It's not just about getting someone younger and fresher in. It's getting someone in who understands the need to revitalize Congress as an institution."

Fox News reached out to Hoyer's office for a response, but a spokesperson declined to respond.

Along with Pelosi, Hoyer stepped down from his longtime leadership position at the end of 2022 but remained in Congress.  

"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 told CNN at the time, as he referred to the moves by the top three House Democrats - Pelosi, Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. - to step down from their leadership roles.

Hoyer has long been a major backer of the Democrats' top issues, and during his second tenure as House majority leader, he played a crucial role in the passage of then-President Joe Biden's so-called American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Hoyer, who suffered a minor stroke last year, is the latest high-ranking House Democrat to face a primary challenge from a younger opponent.

Pelosi and Reps. Brad Sherman of California and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have drawn primary challenges, with Schakowsky later announcing that she will no longer run for re-election.

Jarin told Fox News that when he spoke with voters in the district about Hoyer, they had concerns about the incumbent's age.

"The main reaction I got when I asked people about Steny Hoyer was first and foremost his age," Jarin said. "The idea that he would be close to 90 years old at the end of the next term is just a little bit nuts for people. I think people are starting to process how extreme a situation that is."

The primary challenges come as Democrats are still trying to regroup following last November's election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and their Senate majority, and came up short in their bid to win back the House.

Additionally, while much of that anger and energy is directed at fighting the White House and congressional Republicans, some of it is targeted at Democrats whom many in the party's base feel aren't vocal enough in their efforts to stymie Trump.

Concurrently, other longtime and older House Democrats in safe blue districts are facing the possibility of primary challenges.

The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party.

Jarin said that "we have reached out to David Hogg. We've been in communication."

As for his ability to raise money for his campaign, Jarin said, "I do come from a political family."

He noted that his husband was a major donor and bundler for former President Joe Biden's successful 2020 campaign and also served as a DNC finance director, and that his uncle had "been a big bundler for Democratic causes for a long time."

"I think a lot of donors realize that this is a problem but may not be able to say it out loud for fear of repercussions," he argued.

Jarin said that he's received "some pushback from donors for concerns of prioritizing more marginal districts" instead of pouring resources into swing seats as the party aims to win back the House majority in 2026.

"My message to them has been that putting extremely elderly politicians like Steny Hoyer back into office for a 24th term sends a message to voters across the country that Democrats are just the party of status quo and clearly that message has not been working," he said.

While Rikleen didn't spotlight the senator's age, he did argue that "Markey, like many other Democrats, has stood silently by as [Senate Democratic Leader] Chuck Schumer surrenders Democrats' leverage" in battling Trump.

But Markey has been very visible this year, as he attended protests and rallies across Massachusetts. And last month he traveled to Louisiana to urge the Trump administration to release Rumeysa Ozturk, a student at Massachusetts' Tufts University who was handcuffed while walking on a street by masked Department of Homeland Security agents and detained at an ICE facility.

And Markey took to social media on Thursday to once again defend Harvard University in its battle with the Trump administration, pledging that "Massachusetts will not be bullied."