Hakeem Jeffries wins re-election as Democratic House Leader

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Leader Hakeem Jeffries won re-election Tuesday as the Democratic leader, receiving support from his colleagues despite the party’s failure to win back majority control of the chamber at the election in November.

Jeffries and the top Democratic leadership of the House – a trio of younger generation leaders along with the Democratic Whip Katherine Clark for Massachusetts and Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Pete Aguilar in California — all won their re-election in the private vote by House Democrats.

“We are prepared to work hard to find common ground with our Republican colleagues and the incoming administration on any issue whenever and wherever possible,” Jeffries said from New York, flanked by the leadership team at the Capitol.

“But at the same time, we will push back against right-wing extremism when necessary,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries from New York remains in line to become Speaker of the House highest ranking black elected official in Congress, and the first to hold the job of party leader.

He fell short of being in place to win the gavel after the Republicans came to power with the president-elect Donald Trumpgain control over The White House, the Senate and the House.

While the Democratic leader will be the party’s nominee for speaker when the new Congress meets in January, the gavel is expected to go to the speaker. Mike Johnson as the Republicans continue to hold the majority in the new year.

Jeffries and the House Democratic leadership team took over as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi stepped aside from management two years ago, and the other top executives also made way for the new era.

With Democratic leaders campaigning across the nation leading up to the November election, Jeffries and the others raised tens of millions of dollars and rallied volunteers to get out the vote for their candidates.

House Democrats picked up a few seats in hard-fought regions, including Jeffries’ home state of New York and in California. But they also lost seats elsewhere and failed to unseat some of the GOPs, and overall there was little change in the house.

Jeffries said that despite the GOP’s claims of a sweeping mandate to govern, their numbers in the House are essentially tied with Democrats.

“This notion of some mandate to make massive, far-right political changes, it doesn’t exist — it doesn’t exist,” Jeffries said.

The trio of leaders ran unopposed in Tuesday’s closed-door election that also held other leadership positions, including Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado as assistant Democratic leader, Rep. Ted Lieu of California as vice chairman of the caucus.

In the other contests, members were elected as co-chairs of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee—Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois, Representative Laurie Trahan of Massachusetts, and Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida. DPCC co-chairs went to longtime Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, who pushed past a challenge from rising newcomer Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.

The Republicans under Johnson hold the majority by such a small margin – their numbers fall in the new year, which Trump has tapped three GOP lawmakersElise StefanikMike Waltz and Matt Gaetz to serve in his administration. Some must be confirmed by the Senate.

Those tight numbers in the House, with some races still undecided, give Jeffries and Democrats enormous leverage to deliver the votes needed to ensure bills pass if Johnson finds he is unable to to rule with his slim majority, as happened in the last two years with a chaotic Congress.