Politics
REPORT: Dozens Of Dem House Candidates Revolt Against Hakeem Jeffries
Even acquiescing to the far left of his party hasn’t done U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) any favors with the base of his party.
With attention turning by the day to the 2026 elections, dozens of Democrats running for House have signaled that they do not intend to sign on for another two years with Jeffries helming their party. Confidence in the Bronx Democrat has eroded considerably since the government shutdown enters its third week.
The anonymous admissions are an acknowledgement that discontent with Jeffries is reaching the echelon of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has fallen out of favor so badly that he is preparing for a primary challenge by “Squad” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Asked by Axios if they plan to support Jeffries for House Speaker should Democrats win back the majority, dozens of incumbents and challengers have declined to do so.
The survey included virtually every one of the Democratic candidates running for a House seat that could conceivably be won by the party, with 113 respondents sharing their answers.
Of those, 20 said they wouldn’t vote for Jeffries as speaker or minority leader, with five more saying they were likely to vote against him, according to the outlet.
More frequent was a refrain that it is too early in the cycle to commit to supporting Jeffries: a full 57 candidates took that position, citing ideological differences or perceived flaws in his handling of messaging, strategy, and overall leadership.
Just 24 Democrats said they fully intend to vote for Jeffries while another seven said they are likely to do so.
“Leader Jeffries is focused on battling Donald Trump, ending the Republican shutdown of the federal government and addressing the crushing GOP health care crisis,” Jeffries spokesperson Justin Chermol told Axios in response to the survey.
Some of Jeffries’ loudest doubters are highly likely to join Congress next year based on the makeup of current political landscapes in favorable districts.
In the race to replace Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh, two of the leading Democratic candidates, stopped short of promising to back Jeffries for speaker.
Well-funded progressive insurgents like Luke Bronin, Donavan McKinney, Mai Vang, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Patrick Roath all declined to endorse Jeffries outright, or confirmed they would be supporting someone else.
Heath Howard, a New Hampshire state representative running for an open U.S. House seat, told Axios of Jeffries, “I think we need to have a new type of leadership that’s … going to fight back significantly harder against the Trump administration.”
Abughazaleh said she will support a leader who is “taking actual action against this administration” and that progressives should use “our leverage to demand progressive change.”
“We’ve got to see improvement, without question,” said Amanda Edwards, a Houston city councilor running in a Texas special election.
Harry Jarin, a firefighter challenging former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), told Axios, “The anger of the base right now is not being matched by Democratic leadership … and that is going to have to change one way or another.”
Some challengers have taken issue with Jeffries’s refusal to endorse Zohran Mamdani in the race for mayor of New York.
“His refusal to endorse Zohran makes me nervous that, if I were to become the nominee in my race, he and the party would not support me,” said Jacob Lawrence, a candidate running to take on Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC).
Chakrabarti, asked about supporting Jeffries, quipped, “What is it that Hakeem said about endorsing Zohran? ‘I’ll have conversations with him and see where it goes.'”
