Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is officially running to be Speaker of the House in the next Congress.
It comes after Democrats made historic gains in Tuesday night’s midterm elections, taking back both the House and Senate for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.
Jeffries sent a letter to fellow House Democrats on Wednesday afternoon congratulating them on their victories and adding, “I write to humbly request your support in connection with my candidacy to serve as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
Jeffries told reporters that he intended to run for the top job in the House during a press conference with his top deputies on Wednesday, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
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Clark and Aguilar also signaled they would run for the No. 2 and No. 3 positions in the House.
And despite a small group of far-left socialists elected to Congress who are expected to pose a headache for Jeffries and other establishment Democrats, he will likely have little trouble winning the speaker’s gavel given the wide majority his party won on Tuesday.
At the time of writing this story, Democrats were projected to win 237 seats compared to 139 for the GOP.
But 59 races are still too close to call, and Jeffries told reporters earlier that he anticipated a total of 255 or more Democrats in the House next year.
In his lengthy letter to colleagues on Wednesday, Jeffries touted past victories and outlined his vision for the next two years.
He pledged to “try to find bipartisan common ground whenever and wherever possible” on the issue of affordability while also criticizing the right’s handling of high cost-of-living.
“Donald Trump and House Republicans promised to lower costs on Day One. They failed. Instead, toxic GOP policies like the Trump tariffs and war in Iran have done the exact opposite,” he wrote.
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Jeffries also vowed “accountability” for the Trump administration, writing the House “will assume its place as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.”
He suggested Democrats would seek to undo Republicans’ Medicaid cuts, extend enhanced Obamacare tax credits that expired at the beginning of this year, and end Trump’s war in Iran.
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“Finally, we must restore classic American values like liberty and justice for all, equal protection under the law, the unfettered right to vote in a representative democracy and our heritage as a nation of immigrants. To that end, I look forward to drawing upon the insights and perspectives of every single part of the Caucus in the days and weeks ahead. House Democrats must deliver dramatic change,” Jeffries wrote.
House Democrats are slated to hold their leadership elections in mid-December.
Meanwhile on the right, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., will be vying for the role of minority leader in the next Congress.
