Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the dean of the New York delegation and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is not seeking reelection next year. “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 Tuesday. The retirement of Nadler, who is serving his 17th full term, will likely set up a hotly contested Democratic primary to represent an overwhelmingly blue district in Manhattan. Nadler, 78, said he considered the circumstances of President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign and his late decision to drop out of the race in deciding his own political future. “Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that,” Nadler told The New York Times in an interview. A pugnacious liberal, Nadler led the Judiciary Committee after Democrats took control of the House in 2019. He championed legislation that often focused on civil liberties and has been a key player on bills to curb gun violence, protect voting rights and update immigration policies. As Judiciary chairman, he played a central role in the push for investigation and oversight during President Donald Trump’s first term. Among those efforts, he led committee hearings on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 elections, and he was part of the House impeachment team for the first impeachment against Trump, which resulted in a Senate acquittal. In 2024, with Republicans taking full control of Congress and Trump returning to the White House, Nadler announced he would not run for the position as top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and instead endorsed Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin for the ranking member spot. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, praised Nadler’s work on national issues, including Trump’s two impeachments, as well as his work closer to home. “After the attacks of September 11, 2001, he spent years fighting for the care and support that New York City and his constituents needed to begin to rebuild and heal,” Jeffries said in a statement. “As Dean of the New York delegation, Congressman Nadler has been a dear friend and valued mentor to myself and so many others throughout the People’s House.” Before his retirement announcement, Nadler had already drawn a primary challenge from nonprofit CEO Liam Elkind. More Democrats are likely to announce bids for the deep-blue district, where Nadler won a 17th term last fall by 61 points. The New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the congressman’s thinking, that Nadler intended to back Upper West Side state Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a former Nadler aide, if he were to enter the race. Nadler’s career in elective politics began in 1976 with his election to the New York State Assembly. After a 16-year legislative career, he was elected to the House in a 1992 special election following the death of Democratic Rep. Ted Weiss. He was easily reelected for much of his career, often running unopposed in the Democratic primary. In 2016, he faced a primary challenge for the first time in 20 years after he broke with other Jewish members from New York by supporting the framework for a nuclear agreement with Iran. Still, he easily won that primary with 90 percent of the vote. In 2022, he faced fellow Democratic Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney in a contentious primary after a prolonged redistricting effort pushed the two longtime House members into the same district. The race was a rare instance of two committee leaders being pitted against each other. Nadler won the nomination with 55 percent of the vote to Maloney’s 24 percent, while a third candidate, Suraj Patel, took 19 percent. While Nadler told the Times that other aging Democrats should consider retirement, he has already taken steps to usher in a new generation of Democratic elected officials. He was one of the most notable New York Democrats to endorse Zohran Mamdani, the party’s 33-year-old nominee for New York City mayor, after he won the June primary, while other party leaders have so far withheld their support. His endorsement was thought to potentially open more Jewish voters to supporting Mamdani, who is Muslim and has criticized the Israeli government.
