A full 82% of Democrat senior staffers said they believe Rep. Hakeem Jeffries will be the next House Democrat leader after Nancy Pelosi, according to a poll published Monday by PunchBowl News.
After almost 19 years as House Democrat leader, Pelosi is expected to step down at the end of this Congress, and Jeffries, a New York congressman, and House Democratic Caucus chair, is the early favorite, according to a report published January in the Washington Post.
More than two dozen lawmakers recently told the Post that rank and file are ready to move beyond the "old guard" of octogenarians that include Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Jeffries, if picked, would be the first Black person to lead either party in either chamber.
"I can't prognosticate the future or what would happen, but if we are playing 'what if there is ever a change,' I think it is very important and would have no problem saying that, if I had a crystal ball, I would want the leadership to be reflective of this wonderful democracy in America we live in," Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, told the Post. "Certainly, I would like to be able to say that I was part of the process that had the first Black American to be speaker of the U.S. Congress."
Asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" last December whether he heard the rumors that he could replace Pelosi, Jeffries laughed and said, "It's an honor to be able to chair the [Democrat] caucus."
The Washington Times in April reported that Jeffries was running a stealth campaign to replace Pelosi as the party's leader by spreading money around and working backroom deals to line up support.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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