BREAKING: NY Rep Jerry Nadler will not seek re-election

New York Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler will not seek re-election after a 34-year congressional career. Nadler, who represents the wealthy 12th district in Manhattan, has been a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump and a mainstay of the progressive arm of his party.

Nadler, 78, had previously said that he was hesitant to step down after his lengthy congressional career but that he had been “persuaded it was time for a changing of the guard,” The New York Times writes. This comes as the Democratic Party lacks leadership and direction while fielding pressure from the far-left. 

In stepping aside, Nadler referenced former President Joe Biden’s abdication from his own presidential campaign in 2024. Biden had been talked into stepping aside, “passing the torch,” and making room for younger leaders in the party.

He passed the torch to his Vice President Kamala Harris, who extinguished it and the Democrats’ hope for leadership in 2024 as the party lost the Senate, the House and the White House. Nadler believes that it is also time for him, an elder Dem, to step aside, just as he did when he was pressed to give up leadership in the House Judiciary Committee earlier in the year.

“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 said. He suggested that a younger leader filling his sear “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”

He also is of the opinion, per the Times, that “other aging Democrats ought to consider” stepping aside. He could be referring to New York Senator Chuck Schumer with that comment, who is also under pressure from the far left over Gaza and other issues.

“I’m not saying we should change over the entire party,” Nadler said. “But I think a certain amount of change is very helpful, especially when we face the challenge of Trump and his incipient fascism.”