House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) may find himself caught in the very blue wave he hopes to ride into power this November. More and more Democratic candidates are telling Axios that they can’t promise to support his leadership.
It’s a big change from Jeffries’ once “untouchable” position in the Democratic Party just a few years ago. This could mean his path to the speakership will be harder than people thought, Axios noted.
Jeffries and his supporters say they aren’t worried at all about a
mass defection. They point out that he hasn’t lost a Democratic vote in 20 speakers’ ballots, even though he is in the minority.
However, this group of new students could potentially be the first challenge to the previously unyielding support. A group of viable candidates has made it clear that voting for Jeffries as speaker is not a given if the Democrats win the House.
Axios reported last fall that more than 80 Democratic House candidates across the country were either not sure if they would support Jeffries’ leadership or were completely against it. Since then, things have only gotten worse for him.
Mai Vang, the leading progressive primary challenger to Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), previously said she would “support the person that my future colleagues elect as our leader.”
But in an unprompted statement last week, she told Axios: “The Democratic Party and its leadership—Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries—have failed to mobilize meaningful opposition to Trump’s illegal war and their silence as AIPAC and corporations flood Congressional primaries with millions of dollars is deafening.”
“I cannot support this kind of leadership,” Vang said. “If we want to defeat Trump and rebuild trust with working Americans, we need new leadership and a new direction.”
“Most Democrats agree that he’s been failing to meet the moment,” said Adam Hamawy, a candidate in New Jersey’s 12th district, saying he is “looking for someone that’s gonna stand up to the administration.”
When asked if she would support Jeffries’ leadership, Claire Valdez, a New York State Assembly member who is running to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), said in an interview with Axios that “there would need to be some conversations.”
“I’ve never met Leader Jeffries, I’ve never had conversations with him,” said Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin, the Congressional Progressive Caucus-backed candidate for a new, safely blue district in Salt Lake City.
Blouin said he looks forward to “voting for someone who is committed
to fighting for our communities, our shared priorities, making sure that we are moving in a direction that is aligned with the American people on foreign policy.”
“I think those are critical concerns,” he added.
New York Assembly member Alex Bores, a candidate to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.)., said, “I’ve seen real fight coming from our caucus, and that matters.”
“There’s room to grow, but I’m encouraged,” he said, adding that Jeffries is “doing a difficult, thankless job” and that he would support his fellow New Yorker’s leadership.
Jeffries’ members credit him with navigating multiple government shutdowns and keeping his caucus largely unified.
Some candidates who are against Jeffries have suggested other options. Anabel Mendoza, a progressive candidate in Illinois’ 7th District, told Axios that she wants Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) to be in charge because she is “10 toes down on what matters.”
If the Democrats win the House and by how many seats, the results of these progressives’ primaries could decide whether Jeffries easily wins the speakership or has to go through the same 15-ballot slog as Kevin McCarthy in 2023.
How well these progressives perform in their primaries, and whether Jeffries wins the House and by how many seats, will determine whether he easily becomes Speaker or has to endure the same 15-ballot slog that Kevin McCarthy did in 2023.
Some candidates said that if Democrats don’t win the House, talks about Jeffries’ leadership will probably be completely different.
