Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer to Retire After 46 Years in U.S. House of Representatives

Hoyer is currently the longest-serving member of the House Democratic Caucus.

This evening, U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a Democrat, told The Washington Post that he won’t run for re-election in 2026. This year will cap a 60-year political career for the former member of House Democratic leadership. He also becomes the 45th retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives this cycle, the 20th Democrat to do so, and the 19th leaving without running for another office.

Hoyer, 86, has served Maryland’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since May 1981! The district covers all of Charles, St. Mary’s, and Calvert Counties as well as parts of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties.

As generational change has become a key factor in this cycle’s primaries, Hoyer becomes the ninth Democrat over 70 to retire - after Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey (80), Danny Davis of Illinois (84), Lloyd Doggett of Texas (79), Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania (71), Jerry Nadler of New York (78), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi of California (85), Jan Schakowsky of Illinois (81), and Nydia Velázquez of New York (72). For Republicans, Dan Newhouse of Washington (70) and Ralph Norman of South Carolina (72) are the only members in this demographic leaving.

Hoyer is currently the longest-serving member of the House Democratic Caucus. Overall, he’s the third longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives - beaten only by a couple months by Republicans Hal Rogers of Kentucky and Chris Smith of New Jersey. Furthermore, he is the third-oldest member of the legislative chamber - also following Rogers (88) and Democrat Maxine Waters of California (87).

Hoyer began his professional career as a staffer to U.S. Senator Daniel Brewster from 1962 to 1966. He then won office himself - serving in the Maryland Senate from January 1967 to January 1978. He became the chamber’s President in January 1975. In 1978, he sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor as the running mate of acting Governor Blair Lee III. However, they lost in the primary to Harry Hughes and Samuel Bogley. He was then appointed to the Maryland Board of Higher Education until 1981.

Before the 1980 election, U.S. Representative Gladys Spellman fell into a coma. Despite winning re-election, she never regained consciousness and the seat was declared vacant in February 1981. Hoyer narrowly won the seven-candidate Democratic primary, beating Spellman’s husband by only 1,600 votes. In the special election, he prevailed with a 56.0-44.0 victory against Republican Audrey Scott. He has served for 23 terms in office. Notably, he defeated future Governor Larry Hogan by a 53.0-43.9 margin in 1992. That was the closest re-election of his congressional career.

Hoyer quickly pursued leadership in the House Democratic Caucus. From January 2003 to January 2023, he was the second-highest ranking Democrat in the chamber - serving under House Speaker Pelosi. During his tenure, the party oversaw the passage of Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s legislative agendas.

Following the 2022 elections where Republicans achieved a slim majority, Pelosi, Hoyer and James Clyburn of South Carolina stepped down from their leadership positions. That made way for the next generation of Democratic leadership in the U.S. House: Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Pete Aguilar of California.

While Pelosi opted not to take any committee assignments after stepping down from her leadership post, both Hoyer and Clyburn were given seats on the House Committee on Appropriations as well as posts leading Democrats on two of the powerful subcommittees. Hoyer is the Ranking Member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. He becomes the fourth member departing the Appropriations committee this cycle - alongside Coleman, Newhouse and Republican Ashley Hinson of Iowa.

Before today’s announcement, Hoyer was being challenged in the Democratic primary by five challengers: Quincy Bareebe, Terry Jackson, Harry Jarin, Heather Luper, and Alexis Solis. None of them have held political office before. Given the partisan lean of the district, the winner of the Democratic primary will likely become the next U.S. Representative here. As such, elected officials from the area now have a prime opportunity to join the federal branch of government. No one has yet expressed new interest following Hoyer’s retirement decision.

Under the current lines, Democrat Kamala Harris won Maryland’s 5th Congressional District with a 65.5-32.2 finish against Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. That came as Harris was carrying the state 62.6-34.1 in her ultimately unsuccessful national campaign. On the same ballot, Hoyer was re-elected with a 67.8-32.0 victory against Republican Michelle Talkington for his final term in office.