As Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer announced he will step down next year after nearly 60 years in public service, he thanked a group of voters dear to his heart.
“I was thanking people. I said, you know, I really ought to thank the people who got me here and kept me here,” Hoyer told News4 about his Jan. 8 speech on the House floor.
News4 sat down with Hoyer to look at his legacy and what he considers to be an important part of his political career. He was moved to tears as he spoke about the unwavering support he has had among African Americans in his district.
“I was thanking people. I said, you know, I really ought to thank the people who got me here and kept me here,” he told News4.
Hoyer represents Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, a district with a narrow Black and brown majority that’s 40% African American. It’s a population that he says has supported him from the very start of his career.
“I wouldn’t have been elected to the state Senate, but for the African American community,” he said.
Hoyer was just a few months out of Georgetown Law when he was elected to the Maryland state Senate in 1966, rising to become the youngest president of the Senate in state history. He would go on to lose a run to become Maryland’s lieutenant governor but later found his place in the U.S. Congress in 1981 and stayed.
Over the decades, he has championed landmark legislation, like the Americans with Disabilities Act. He’s served as House majority leader and Democratic whip, and he developed close friendships with Republicans and Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the late Georgia Rep. John Lewis, whose picture sits outside his office.
“It’s been one of the more important issues in my career – civil rights,” Hoyer said. “I’ve been down to Selma with John Lewis on the pilgrimage that we call it, the Faith & Politics organization has, 15 times, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Seven of those times, hand in hand with John Lewis.”
During Hoyer’s time in Congress, Prince George’s County transitioned from a predominately white county to Black. But Hoyer remained the dean of the Maryland delegation and the state’s politics. He’s been intentional about mentoring and supporting up-and-coming Black politicians, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks.
“There have been so many of us that he’s mentored and has really taken us under his wing, and he’s done so very, very personably,” Alsobrooks said.
Hoyer is now mentoring Del. Adrian Boafo, whom he has endorsed in the crowded field of more than 30 candidates seeking to replace him.
As long as you elect people who want to be confrontational and who are angry, don’t be surprised you get a confrontational – an angry Congress that is somewhat dysfunctional. Maybe a lot dysfunctional.
Rep. Steny Hoyer
Hoyer fought to even the playing field for Prince George’s County and secure federal installations and jobs for its citizens, offering the stability that’s helped to make the county one of the wealthiest predominantly Black communities in the country.
But what he hoped would be his crowning achievement is being challenged by the Trump administration: the relocation of FBI headquarters to Greenbelt.
“I’m disappointed with that, but I’m still working on it,” he said.
As a politician who knows how to work across the aisle, the congress that Hoyer first entered has changed, along with the tenor of American politics. But he said he does not believe the polarization playing out in Washington has to be permanent.
“As long as you elect people who want to be confrontational and who are angry, don’t be surprised you get a confrontational – an angry Congress that is somewhat dysfunctional. Maybe a lot dysfunctional.” he said.
In a time when many African Americans question allegiance to any one political party, county residents at Hoyer’s annual Black History Month breakfast told News4 how he has shown up for them.
“I hate to see him go, but I am grateful for all that he has done for Prince George’s County,” said county resident Cheryl Brooks.
“He’s so personable. I love Steny,” LaWanda Robinson, of St. Mary’s County, said.
“He’s never forgotten who sent him to Congress,” Alsobrooks said. “I think he’s been deeply appreciative of the support he got from the African American community.”
Hoyer said he hopes the Black community he serves feels his appreciation for the opportunity.
“Throughout my career, the African American community has been very loyal to me,” he said. “And I hope they believe, and I believe they do, because they’ve been supportive, that I’ve kept faith with them.”
From Howard University to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, D.C. leaders continue Carter G. Woodson’s mission to preserve Black history year-round. News4’s Dominique Moody explores the legacy of Woodson, the founder of Negro History Week — the precursor to Black History Month — and the visionary who believed Black history should be taught every day.
