Congressman Jerry Nadler will not seek re-election 2026, ending a 34-year political career in DC

Congressman Jerry Nadler will not seek re-election in 2026. The 78-year-old veteran will leave Washington, D.C., after 34 years in which he represented much of Manhattan in the House of Representatives. He explained his decision in an interview with The New York Times, in which he argued that the Democratic Party needs a "generational change."

Nadler told the NYT that one of the keys that led him to make the decision was watching the decline of Joe Biden over the past four years. 

"Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that," he said, adding that a younger profile "can maybe do better, can maybe help us more."

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

The son of a chicken farmer, he worked his way into NYC politics while still a student at Columbia University. After graduating in 1969, he worked in law firms and as a legislative assistant. He was elected as an assemblyman in 1977, a year before finishing his J.D. degree.

After 15 years in the state Assembly, Nadler came to DC in 1992. Since then, he was noted for a progressive agenda in the House and was the prime mover in the first impeachment attempt against Donald Trump. Although the number of his districts changed over the years, he always represented a good part of Manhattan. He currently represents the 12th district, the most Democratic district in the state.

The peak of his career came in 2019, when he was appointed as chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee. He retained the post until 2023, when Republicans retook control of the lower chamber. Nadler is the longest-serving New Yorker in Congress. 

In the 2024 presidential election, he was one of the first House members to call on Biden to retire. Recently, he endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race, comparing his primary win to Barack Obama's 2008 election.