We develop optimization-based structure-preserving model order reduction (MOR) methods for port-Hamiltonian (pH) descriptor systems of differentiation index one. Descriptor systems in pH form permit energy-based modeling and intuitive coupling of physical systems across different physical domains, scales, and accuracies. This makes pH models well-suited building-blocks for component-wise modeling of large system networks. In this context, it is often necessary to preserve the pH structure during MOR. We discuss current projection-based and structure-preserving MOR algorithms for pH systems and present a new optimization-based framework for that task. The benefits of our method include a simplified treatment of algebraic constraints and ofte...