Democrat Harry Jarin, seen in a campaign launch video, is primary challenging longtime Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland in the 2026 elections. (Harry Jarin for Congress)
Harry Jarin, 35, a volunteer firefighter and emergency services consultant, said Thursday in a new video announcing his candidacy, "If you live here in southern Maryland, I want to ask you a tough question. Do you really think that Steny Hoyer, at 89-years-old, is the best person to represent us?"
"Here's the bottom line: You don't put out a fire by sending in the same people who let it spread. Send in a firefighter," Jarin said. "Maryland deserves a new generation of leadership, and I'm ready to take up the fight."
And in an interview with Fox News Digital, Jarin said: "I think we’re facing a really serious constitutional crisis… Congress has really declined as an institution over the last three or four years. Congress has surrendered a lot of its legislative power under the Constitution over to the executive branch. I think that’s been very corrosive to our political system."
Asked about his motivation to primary challenge Hoyer, Jarin said, "It’s not just about getting someone younger and fresher in. It’s getting someone in who understands the need to revitalize Congress as an institution."
Fox News reached out to Hoyer's office for a response, but a spokesperson declined to respond.
Hoyer, who first won his seat in Congress in a 1981 special election, from 2003 to 2023, was the second-ranking House Democrat behind Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. He served as House Majority Leader from 2007-2011 and from 2019-2023, when the Democrats controlled the chamber.
Along with Pelosi, Hoyer stepped down from his longtime leadership position at the end of 2022 but remained in Congress.
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"I think all of us have been around for some time and pretty much have a feel for the timing of decisions. And I think all three of us felt that this was the time," Hoyer told CNN at the time, as he referred to the moves by the top three House Democrats — Pelosi, Hoyer and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. — to step down from their leadership roles.
Hoyer has long been a major backer of the Democrats' top issues, and during his second tenure as House majority leader, he played a crucial role in the passage of then-President Joe Biden's so-called American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is pledging to support primary challenges against older House Democrats in blue districts. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
This, after newly elected Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg last month pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to back primary challenges against what he called "asleep at the wheel" House Democrats — lawmakers he argued have failed to effectively push back against Trump.
The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party.
Jarin said that "we have reached out to David Hogg. We’ve been in communication."
But Hogg told The Washington Post last month that he wouldn't support primary challenges against Hoyer, Pelosi or Clyburn.
As for his ability to raise money for his campaign, Jarin said, "I do come from a political family."
He noted that his husband was a major donor and bundler for former President Joe Biden's successful 2020 campaign and also served as a DNC finance director, and that his uncle had "been a big bundler for Democratic causes for a long time."
"I think a lot of donors realize that this is a problem but may not be able to say it out loud for fear of repercussions," he argued.
Jarin said that he's received "some pushback from donors for concerns of prioritizing more marginal districts" instead of pouring resources into swing seats as the party aims to win back the House majority in 2026.
"My message to them has been that putting extremely elderly politicians like Steny Hoyer back into office for a 24th term sends a message to voters across the country that Democrats are just the party of status quo and clearly that message has not been working," he said.
In Massachusetts, first-time candidate Alex Rikleen — a father, former teacher and fantasy sports writer, this week launched a primary challenge against Markey.
While Rikleen didn't spotlight the senator's age, he did argue that "Markey, like many other Democrats, has stood silently by as [Senate Democratic Leader] Chuck Schumer surrenders Democrats' leverage" in battling Trump.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, seen at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois, is running for re-election in 2026. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Rikleen said that he is "stepping forward to challenge an incumbent because Democrats have shown us that they are not going to change course on their own…in this perilous moment, I believe we need dramatic action now and we are not getting it from our current Democratic leaders."
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And while he said that "Sen. Markey has been a fantastic leader on progressive policy throughout my lifetime and he is better than most at standing up for others. In a normal political environment, I'd proudly continue voting for him," he argued that "this is not a normal moment. Better than most is not good enough."
But Markey has been very visible this year, as he attended protests and rallies across Massachusetts. And last month he traveled to Louisiana to urge the Trump administration to release Rumeysa Ozturk, a student at Massachusetts' Tufts University who was handcuffed while walking on a street by masked Department of Homeland Security agents and detained at an ICE facility.
And Markey took to social media on Thursday to once again defend Harvard University in its battle with the Trump administration, pledging that "Massachusetts will not be bullied."
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/two-longtime-house-democrats-face-primary-challenges-from-younger-opponents