Rep. Jerry Nadler retires, furthering Democrats’ generational shift

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D, who has represented New York City in Congress for more than 32 years, announced he will retire at the end of his current term and won’t seek reelection in 2026. The 78-year-old’s decision marks a continued generational shift, both in Congress and within the Democratic Party. 

“This decision has not been easy. But I know in my heart it is the right one and that it is the right time to pass the torch to a new generation,” Nadler said in a statement. 

Nadler told The New York Times that former President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside for then-Vice President Kamala Harris influenced him. 

“I think I want to respect that,” Nadler said. 

The Times even described Nadler as a pillar of the Democratic Party’s old guard. 

“When I step down at the end of this term, I will have served for 50 years in continuous elected public service to the people of New York,” Nadler stated in his announcement.  

The shift in the Democratic party has happened slowly but surely, from leadership to the rank and file. 

“I think a generational change has been underway in the House Democratic caucus for the last several years. And it’s something that every caucus member, regardless of whichever generation they find themselves in, has embraced,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday. “It’s what the record shows.”

Jeffries would know — he became the House Democratic Leader in 2022 after Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., decided to step back from leadership to make way for a new generation. The next time Democrats win the majority in the chamber, Jeffries is on track to be the first Black House Speaker. 

Jeffries’ lieutenants were also elected to their positions in 2022, when members of the old guard stepped aside. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., was elected Democratic whip after 86-year-old Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also decided to pass the torch. 

At the committee level, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., became the ranking member of the Oversight Committee, replacing former Rep. Gerrold Connolly, D-Va., who stepped aside and subsequently passed away. Garcia is only 47 years old and has served in Congress for just one term. To win election as the committee’s top Democrat, he had to beat out an opponent who has been in Congress for more than two decades. 

There was already a big generational test in Texas due to the newly drawn congressional map. Republicans combined the districts of Reps. Greg Casar, D, and Lloyd Doggett, D, who would have been forced to face each other in a primary in 2026. Now Doggett, 78, announced he will not seek reelection if the maps are upheld in court. 

That paves the way for Casar, 36, to hold the seat. Casar is the chair of the House Progressive Caucus, where he follows in the footsteps of democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Doggett was a moderate Democrat who more closely aligned with the likes of Pelosi and Hoyer.

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