Pelosi, Hoyer and Moore salute Eleanor Holmes Norton at her legacy fund luncheon

By Philippa Langstrom

WASHINGTON — The tributes came by video and in person. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was guest of honor Sunday at a luncheon in her name, where a former House speaker, a retiring House majority leader, Maryland’s governor and the man running to succeed her saluted her nearly 35 years in Congress, The Washington Informer reported.

The Eleanor Holmes Norton Legacy Fund held its annual luncheon Oct. 25 at The Potomac Hotel in Southwest. The event, “A Salute to Our Warrior on the Hill,” raises scholarship money for women at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law. About 250 guests attended, the Informer reported, and Leslie Foster of WUSA9 hosted.

Norton’s term ends Jan. 3, 2027. She did not seek reelection, and the race to replace her as the District’s nonvoting delegate is on the Nov. 3 ballot, as WTOP has reported.

The tributes

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appeared in a recorded video. “As the first woman to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Eleanor broke barriers and opened doors for many,” Pelosi said, according to the Informer. “In Congress, Eleanor has been a relentless champion for the people of the District of Columbia, demanding the full representation and equal rights they deserve.” She added: “We must continue the fight until statehood is secured.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who also leaves the House in January, spoke in person. “Eleanor Holmes Norton, is a giant in American history,” he told the ballroom. “I’ve had the honor of serving with Eleanor for 35 years. She’s a young person, so she came 10 years after I went into Congress.”

Hoyer, 87, joked about his own retirement. “People are asking, ‘Why are we retiring?’ I get that all the time. And my response is, ‘I did not think that 87 was a premature retirement,'” he said, as quoted by the Informer. “The District of Columbia is better for the service of Eleanor Holmes Norton,” he said later.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) sent a recorded message. “She broke barriers so others could actually walk through them,” Moore said. “And her legacy fund turns that walk into a run.”

A tribute video showed moments from Norton’s House career, including a 2007 floor speech: “The District of Columbia has spent 206 years yielding to people who would deny them the vote, I yield you no ground.”

Guests included Virginia Ali, co-founder of Ben’s Chili Bowl, who posed for photos with Norton and Hoyer, according to the Informer. The Davey Yarborough Ensemble with Esther Williams performed, and Joe Coleman of The Platters sang a tribute.

The would-be successor

D.C. Council member Robert White (D-At-large), the Democratic nominee for delegate, worked on Norton’s staff for five years. “Eleanor Holmes Norton has blazed more trails than most of us will ever even walk,” White said. He credited her with helping bring about The Wharf and Navy Yard and with helping Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reach the federal bench. “The good new is, I don’t have to replicate what Eleanor Holmes Norton has done, because I can’t,” he said, as quoted by the Informer.

White also used the stage to talk about the election and statehood. “If the Democrats, again, get the House, the Senate, and the White House, they have to make D.C. a state,” he said.

White faces Republican Denise Rosado, Statehood Green candidate Kymone Freeman and independent David Solana. White had raised $1,040,274 through Oct. 14, according to his FEC filings. Rosado’s most recent report on the FEC site covers activity through May 27.

The scholarship

The fund, started in 2018, featured past scholarship winner Kadian Townsend, a 2022 graduate of the UDC law school who now runs Townsend Law Firm. “I think it’s important to see the manifestation of your contributions and your investment,” Townsend said. “It’s not just writing a check. You’re actually impacting lives.”

“We are building the next generation of ‘Warriors on the Hill,’ women who will pursue careers that will exemplify the Congresswoman’s activism and service,” fund president Hazel Bland Thomas said in a statement quoted by the Informer.

The office she leaves

Norton’s office spent $919,692 in official funds in the first half of 2026, the 39th-highest total in the House, according to House disbursement records analyzed in The Washington Inquisitor’s office-spending review. Its $105,797 in rent, communications and utilities ranked sixth, driven by $90,334 in rent paid to the General Services Administration for her district office in a federal building. Her office spent $131 on travel.

The Washington Inquisitor sought comment from Norton’s office, the Legacy Fund and the White campaign. This story will be updated with any responses.