MD-05: Former 'Jeopardy!' contestant (D) challenges Hoyer, emphasizing age difference

[RandySF]

Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) received a primary challenge Thursday from volunteer firefighter and former “Jeopardy!” contestant Harry Jarin, who is seeking to make age a centerpiece of the campaign.

In a statement announcing his bid, Jarin, 35, said Hoyer, 85, “represents a bygone era of politics that isn’t working” and that congressional seats should not be treated as “lifetime appointments.”

“I’ve seen from the inside how the Democratic Party has totally lost touch with working people,” Jarin said. “We didn’t present a vision of the future or politicians that people could relate to, and that’s what opened the door for Trump and extremist Republicans to take power.”

“Politicians in their late 80s like Steny Hoyer simply don’t know how to communicate in the era of social media,” he continued. “Democrats have to recognize how badly we’ve failed and change course if we want to win.”




https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5323498-hoyer-primary-challenge-jarin-age/

[Ritabert]

1. Great idea. I don't remember Harry but I'll look him up.

[Arazi]

2. Oh this should be a *great* discussion here

[dsc]

3. I am trying to imagine changing his

line Politicians in their late 80s like Steny Hoyer simply don’t know how to communicate in the era of social media,
to virtually any other trait.

Politicians who are black simply don't know how to communicate in areas that white people run.
Politicians who are gay simply don't know how to communicate in areas dominated by straight people.
Politicians who are women simply don't know how to communicate with men.
etc.

It would be flagged as the bigotry it is. Maybe he should beat Hoyer in the race. But he should be able to give us a better reason than Hoyer is old.

[Ritabert]

7. Sorry recent developments like the attacks on Biden

....show that it's not ageism. It's reality. We need some fresh ideas and they're not coming from the old guard.

[dsc]

8. If his ideas are so fresh why doesn't he actually tell us some of them?

I didn't see any ideas, fresh, stale, or otherwise in that announcement.

[Ritabert]

11. Early days. The election isn't until 2026

[rogue emissary]

21. I always thought when you made an announcement of this nature.

Your campaign website would go live with that information.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Why the shrug?

https://www.harrymd5.com/issues

[rogue emissary]

24. Searched his name and couldn't find this site.

thanks for the info.

[W_HAMILTON]

25. That is embarrassingly light.

And the few positions he takes, they aren't even that different from Hoyer's.

[dsc]

26. My impression as well

[elleng]

54. EXACTLY!!!

[Self Esteem]

32. Hoyer will be just a few months shy of 87 if he won and took office.

If he served a full term, he'd be pushing 90.

I am sorry but that is ridiculous. Call me a bigot all you want but he's too fucking old.

At this point, age is a liability. It's a liability mentally and it's a liability electorally. The Democratic Party is getting absolutely decimated right now - with record-high disapproval numbers and we've got a bunch of hanger-ons who refuse to cede power. It's bad optics. It's selfish. It's pure party rot and no one should blindly support it.

If these politicians aren't going to retire willingly, we need to retire 'em ourselves.

So, yes, Hoyer should not be reelected in 2026 because the dude is too old.

Did we learn nothing from the Feinstein fiasco where she didn't know where she was most the time?

If Democrats are going to regain the trust of Americans, something they've absolutely lost over the last few years, returning people like Hoyer to Washington is not going to do it.

The only saving grace is that Hoyer is from a reliably blue district. But a man who just suffered a stroke last year, and is soon to be pushing 90 years old, should not be returned to Washington if we can stop it in the primary. IF the Democrats retake the House in 2026, they'll likely take it back by the smallest of margins. We've already lost three elderly Democrats this year because they died in office - the likelihood of Hoyer dying in 2027 or 2028 or suffering from something extremely debilitating is significantly higher than a younger member.

What if the Democrats only win back the House by one or two seats and he kicks the bucket? We could go months where the party doesn't have a stopgap to stop Trump because of pure fucking hubris.

Hoyer should drop out and endorse his challenger. He's been in office for nearly 45 years.

And if he refuses, I hope he loses bigly because these older Democrats are killing the party by refusing to step aside.

Hoyer won his seat only because Gladys Spellman, the congresswoman who served before him, suffered a massive heart attack and slipped into a coma weeks before the 1980 election that she never awoke from. The seat wasn't permanently filled until MAY, months after it was ruled vacant because of medical issues.

We can't afford another Spellman situation. Hoyer is too old. If you find that bigoted, I really don't know what to tell you.

[dsc]

36. I am not arguing for blind support

but given how sparce this issue page of this challenger's website is, vs the well known issue profile of Hoyer, it seems that you are the only blindly supporting someone. Honestly, his age should be taken into account. But so far, the challenger seems to have only the message that Hoyer is old. I fail to see this as being any different from we can't run this gay candidate because he can't win except here, this man has shown an ability to win over and over again, which is how he got to be there at his age.

[Self Esteem]

41. Yes. I'm blindly supporting the younger alternative.

Hoyer is too old to be in congress. It's embarrassing that we're even entertaining sending someone who will nearly be 90 at the end of his next term.

He should retire and if he's not willing to, I hope the primary voters can before he mucks things up for Democrats like we've already seen with some high-profiled politicians, including a former president.

If Democrats want to be taken seriously, they're going to have to start acting seriously and renominating a man deep into his 80s is not it. He should bow out gracefully instead of stubbornly hang on.

I mean, the list just keeps growing.

We didn't learn our lesson with RBG.

We didn't learn our lesson with Feinstein.

We didn't learn our lesson with Biden.

How many more times are we going to pretend age isn't a major issue that is hurting Democrats and Democratic ideals?

[agingdem]

4. To the old guard..Hoyer, Durbin (retiring) ,Schumer, Markey and yes Pelosi..

and every aging Dem who has taken up decades long residence in the Senate and House...thank you for your service but it's time to retire...not just think about it...retire and do it now before the 2026 midterms and pass the proverbial baton to the next generation of Democratic hopefuls....

[Skittles]

43. GET ON WITH IT

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Let's shoot ourselves in the foot with ageism. Blame them, they're too old.

If your raison d'etre is "I'm 50 years younger" I think you haven't thought this through. I'm sure you'll be great at writing bills.

[Skittles]

44. maybe the "raison d'etre" is WHAT WE HAVE NOW IS *NOT* WORKING

LONG PAST TIME FOR CHANGE

[RandomNumbers]

55. I'm okay with someone younger challenging an octogenarian

But "vote for me because he's too old" isn't a compelling argument.

Surely Dems can find candidates that have actual, you know, qualifications and positions.

All they have to do is schedule a debate with the incumbent. The age factor will speak for itself - if it is meaningful. (and potentially in either direction)

[BoRaGard]

6. R-S-T-L-N-E

[nolabear]

9. Wrong game.

[BoRaGard]

13. OK, you pass the DU dementia screening

Go to the head of the class

[nolabear]

22. ...

[Renew Deal]

46. lol

[madinmaryland]

19. Nice post, Vanna!

[Torchlight]

10. "I'm hip and younger!" may be a great tag line

but it should be supported by the concomitant and necessary platform, policy, and agenda positions. Otherwise it comes off as division for the sake of division.

[senseandsensibility]

12. Who is this Jeopardy contestant?

I'm a regular Jeopardy viewer and I don't recognize the name.

[Quiet Em]

15. Looks like he was a contestant December 24, 2024

https://tvregular.com/2024/12/24/harry-jarin-from-jeopardy-emergency-services-consultant-who-has-worked-in-ukraine/

[senseandsensibility]

16. Thanks

[Quiet Em]

17. no problem

[Nanjeanne]

14. His website is up. I'm sure it will continue to

be worked on but he has a few policy issues up and brief bio etc.

https://www.harrymd5.com/home]

[TheProle]

18. What is "DU Shitshow"

[harumph]

20. This has to happen and despite the protestations of some here it will happen.

I'm 62 with 4 children between 17 and 32 and they're all sick of this shit - and I concur.
He's right about de-facto "lifetime appointments."

[W_HAMILTON]

27. Oh my, is he also going to cry """rigged!!!1!!!""" when/if he loses?

If the voters choose to keep voting for the elected leaders that have served them well for years -- decades, in some cases -- who is this guy to tell them that they are wrong and their duly elected leaders shouldn't have a "de facto lifetime appointment" when they are BEING VOTED IN BY THEIR CONSTITUENTS.

[Skittles]

29. did you notice the results of the last election

SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE

[onenote]

31. What I noticed last election is that Hoyer defeated his Democratic primary challengers 72.3 to 27.7

and went on to defeat his repub opponent by 67.8 -32.

[Skittles]

34. the fact that someone wins doesn't really mean anything

they ALL "won"

the problem is HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THEY IN FIGHTING REPUKES AND FASCISM

[onenote]

37. I suspect Steny Hoyer, who has earned the respect of his Democratic colleagues

would be more effective, even at his age, than a former jeopardy contestant with zero experience in the legislative arena.

If Steny decides not to run, and I think that would be the right move, I hope whoever succeeds him is well prepared to be a member of Congress , both in terms of national issues and serving local constituents, not someone who thinks they’re the best person for the job because they’re 35 years old

[Skittles]

39. in ANY other job there would be HUGE changes after such a dismal performance

and Steny has been around long enough

[onenote]

40. What job? Steny wasn't part of leadership in 2024.

The leaders of the Democratic Caucus in 2024 were Hakeem Jeffries, Pete Aguilar, and Katherine Clark.

Are you calling for them to be primaried?

[Skittles]

42. THERE NEEDS TO BE CHANGES

THE SAME OLD SAME OLD IS *NOT* WORKING

[onenote]

45. So I guess that's a yes - you want the current House Democratic leadership primaried

And presumably replaced by folks with no experience.

[W_HAMILTON]

50. Unless you watched his Jeopardy episode, you didn't even know this guy two weeks ago.

As regretful voters are now learning, voting against incumbents just because """there needs to be changes""" doesn't result in some perfect utopia -- changes can be for the worse.

[onenote]

30. Hoyer faced three primary challengers in 2024 -- he crushed them

He got over 70 percent of the vote, none of the three challengers, all much younger than Hoyer -- got more than 10.3 percent. It's not a "lifetime appointment" if the voters prefer you to the folks challenging you.

[JI7]

33. Sounds lame. I get that having younger people

could bring energy but what I'm reading is jusr focusing on age. You should be able to present that energy and appeal without having to mention age.

Maybe things will be different from actually listening to him but just reading this he sounds like a bore.

[mountain grammy]

35. I disagree with some of his points like:

“I’ve seen from the inside how the Democratic Party has totally lost touch with working people,” Jarin said. “We didn’t present a vision of the future or politicians that people could relate to, and that’s what opened the door for Trump and extremist Republicans to take power.”

I pretty much disagree. but if this is the perception, we better damn well address it.

“Politicians in their late 80s like Steny Hoyer simply don’t know how to communicate in the era of social media,” he continued. “Democrats have to recognize how badly we’ve failed and change course if we want to win.”

We didn't fail that badly but but we did fail, and a course correction definitely needed, and I know some oldies who communicate just fine in the era of social media.

But I am glad to see this challenge. I hope Steny retires.

[Renew Deal]

47. This is good news

I hope more people step up

[Tom Rinaldo]

48. He has a point, far as that goes, though every rule has exceptions

My initial presumption us that most politicians over 80 no longer have their finger firmly on the pulse, but some prove me wrong. And there are Nazi skinheads in their 30's, so youth by itself is no silver bullet.

[Ritabert]

51. Hoyer needs to retire. I want some younger people in there and I'm old.

[no_hypocrisy]

52. If "youth" is his only asset, then he should reconsider.

[elleng]

53. Does he have anything ELSE to say?

Hoyer's my Rep now, and waiting for next choices.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

56. All I can say is that I hope he can win if he wins the on.

Right now we cannot afford a Republican taking over a seat in this fascist country. Incumbents tend to win their races. If it’s a solid Dem district then good luck to him. Love me some smart Jeopardy contestants.