Rep. Jerry Nadler draws a 26-year-old primary challenger
Why it matters: Elkind is drawing on concerns that Nadler, the 78-year-old former Judiciary Committee chair and dean of the New York congressional delegation, is too old to effectively fight President Trump.
Nadler was effectively pushed out as Judiciary Committee ranking member last year amid a challenge from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Nadler told Axios in May that he is nevertheless running for reelection: "I want to continue serving ... there's still a lot of things I want to do that have to be done."
Driving the news: Elkind seized on Democrats' old age issue and lawmakers' unpopularity with their own grassroots base in an ad announcing his bid, casting Nadler as a central figure in those dynamics.
"The same people are using the same old tactics, but they're losing," he says in the ad. "Our leaders need to answer the call now, and they aren't."
In the ad, Elkind asks Nadler to retire: "I appreciate his 50 years in office. I grew up voting for him. But we need new leaders to meet this moment."
Elkind, a graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar, leads Invisible Hands Deliver, a non-profit founded during the pandemic to deliver groceries and medicine to the sick and elderly.
The other side: " Last time I checked Congressman Nadler was just re-elected last November by 80% of the vote and 3 years ago he soundly defeated another 30-year incumbent in a contested primary," Nadler spokesperson Robert Gottheim told Axios in a statement.
Gottheim added: "But this is the great thing about America, it's a democracy (hopefully still with Donald Trump in the White House) and anybody can run."
"And he'll put his over 30-year record of accomplishments against anyone including someone who appears to have no record of accomplishment to speak of."
Zoom out: Nadler is one of more than a dozen House Democrats who are 70 or older and facing a primary challenge from a younger opponent.
More than half of the 30 House Democrats over 75 have told Axios they plan to run for reelection — though one of them, Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), has since announced plans to retire.
"Some older members are still effective, some older members aren't," Nadler told Axios in May.
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