Dozens of Democratic candidates running for U.S. House seats nationwide told Axios they either would not support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for party leader or were not prepared to commit to voting for him. The responses suggest growing unease within some parts of the Democratic Party about its current leadership as the 2026 election cycle approaches, the outlet reported this week. Since assuming the role of Democratic leader in 2022, Jeffries has maintained unanimous support within his caucus, but that unity may be tested amid rising frustration from grassroots activists, particularly on the party’s left flank.
Of the 113 candidates contacted by Axios, 20 said they would not vote for Jeffries as speaker or minority leader, and another five indicated they were likely to oppose him. Fifty-seven declined to commit, citing ideological, strategic, or stylistic concerns, while only 24 said they would definitely back him and seven were likely to do so. Jeffries’ office pushed back, saying he remains focused on “battling Donald Trump, ending the Republican shutdown of the federal government and addressing the crushing GOP health care crisis.” Many skeptics are political outsiders or long-shot candidates, though several credible contenders also withheld support — including Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh in Illinois, as well as Luke Bronin, Donavan McKinney, Mai Vang, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Patrick Roath, who are running well-funded campaigns to unseat incumbents.
Several candidates criticized what they see as a lack of urgency from party leadership. Heath Howard of New Hampshire called for “a new type of leadership” to fight harder against the Trump administration, while Abughazaleh said Democrats must “use our leverage to demand progressive change.” Other candidates, like Amanda Edwards in Texas and Harry Jarin in Maryland, argued that leadership is out of step with the anger of the base. A recurring grievance among Jeffries’ critics was his refusal to endorse socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — a move that, according to candidates like Jacob Lawrence and Chakrabarti, reflects a broader disconnect between leadership and the progressive wing of the party.
