Democrat Who Flipped Red House Seat Says Leaders Threatening To Make His Life a ‘Living Hell’ If He Opposed Jeffries

A Democrat who flipped a red House seat blue in last week’s midterm elections says Democratic leaders are threatening to make his life a “living hell” if he does not support Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the speakership election in January. Congressman-elect Don Leonard of Ohio, who won a district that President Trump carried by nine points in 2024, is part of a small band of soon-to-be House members who are so far not committing to supporting Mr. Jeffries. In order to win the speakership, a candidate must win a simple majority of votes on the House floor, which is 218 if all 435 members are voting and no one votes “present.”“Tonight I met with — I’ll call them ‘senior members of the Democratic House — who told me in no uncertain terms the decision as to whether or not I support Jeffries … that would basically mean making my life a living hell for the next two years here in Washington,” Mr. Leonard said in a video posted to Instagram. He says he wants guarantees that the House will vote on a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and to hear about a strategy for forcing President Trump to end the war with Iran. Mr. Leonard says the unnamed senior Democrats told him that they would not help him win re-election in two years in his deep-red district. “We kinda knew this stuff was coming. It’s part of the stuff that you see in the movies,” he said. “We’re searching out hearts tonight as to how we can reach Leader Jeffries and help him be a better speaker. At the end of the day, the ‘Big D’ Democratic Party needs some ‘little D’ democracy,” Mr. Leonard said. Mr. Jeffries is all but certain to win the speakership on January 3, 2027, given the size of his margin for error. As of Tuesday, Democrats could win as many as 259 House seats when all is said and done, which would give Mr. Jeffries a cushion of around 40 seats come next year. So far, only around ten incoming House Democrats have publicly said they are withholding support from Mr. Jeffries. Another incoming member from a deep-red district, Congressman-elect Richard Ojeda, says he also wants a guarantee that Mr. Jeffries will call up a vote on a Constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United.“Ending Citizens United is my hard line,” Mr. Ojeda told Scripps News on Monday. It isn’t just the frontline members who have not yet committed to supporting Mr. Jeffries. A small group of future lawmakers who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, say they are having conversations about how to move forward. “I don’t think it’s about the individual. It’s about the agenda,” Congresswoman-elect Melat Kiros told reporters Monday as she was flanked by several other members of the DSA who won their races in deep-blue districts this year. “We might have different ideas about how to accomplish certain things, but we all agree that we have to reduce costs for working families.”

Democrat Who Flipped Red House Seat Says Leaders Threatening To Make His Life a ‘Living Hell’ If He Opposed Jeffries

Democrat Who Flipped Red House Seat Says Leaders Threatening To Make His Life a ‘Living Hell’ If He Opposed Jeffries

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