Just as the Democrat Party started celebrating its new majorities, trouble began brewing for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his dream of becoming speaker.
That drama looks tame next to what’s happening in the House. According to a Nov. 6, 2026 report from Axios, more than a dozen lawmakers and aides say a flood of calls and emails is urging House Democrats and members-elect to keep Jeffries away from the gavel. The caucus will almost certainly back him, but a chunk of the grassroots base clearly wants him gone.
One incoming House Democrat said the office was “getting inundated,” with “about 150” calls since the election urging a vote against Jeffries. A senior House Democrat reported “over 500” calls in two days, and constituents even raised the issue in person at a Chamber of Commerce meeting back home. “I think our numbers are higher,” another House Democrat told Axios, referring to that 500 figure. “It’s our No. 1 issue, and it’s not close.”
ICYMI: Hakeem Jeffries Could (and Should) Be Prosecuted for This
Jeffries is the frontrunner after Tuesday’s Democrat landslide, which should hand his party a massive majority. He has enjoyed unanimous caucus support since taking over as leader in 2022, and no House Democrat has ever voted against him for speaker. Think about that for a second. The man has a spotless record inside his own caucus, and the activist base still wants his head.
Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the leftist group Indivisible, piled on in a Friday statement to Axios. “Democrats in both chambers can’t go back to business-as-usual politics,” Levin said. “People want leadership that’s ready to join the rest of us in this new era of politics.”
A Democrat chief of staff whose office fielded “about 300” calls said a familiar name keeps coming up. “Lots of people are saying make Jamie Raskin speaker,” the staffer told Axios. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, became a darling of the radical left during his time on the Jan. 6 committee. Activists have long resented Jeffries for his ties to pro-Israel groups and corporate PACs. Raskin, however, has shown zero interest in running, and his office declined to comment.
And then there’s the Hollywood angle. A third House Democrat, whose office has “gotten between 300-400” calls, blamed much of the pressure on actor Mark Ruffalo, who posted on X demanding “a new speaker” and linking to an online petition:
Sign this petition if you want a new speaker of the house. https://t.co/G88VLySjsQ
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) November 5, 2026
Plenty of Democrats are rolling their eyes. “That’s ridiculous,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said of the calls. “I haven’t gotten one.” He added, “Jeffries absolutely will be speaker.” Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) went further. “I’ll be supporting Hakeem Jeffries, and anybody talking about a challenger is just selling tickets to a circus with no tent,” Liccardo said.
One House Democrat put the odds of anyone else winning the job at “none.” A senior member of the far-left wing pegged Jeffries’ chances of losing at “0.0%.” Leadership elections take place later this month, with the floor vote set for Jan. 3, and members say the far-left lawmakers are taking the most heat.
The coup against Jeffries comes amid reports that several newly elected Democrat senators won’t commit to backing Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for majority leader, even though he has led the caucus in the majority and the minority since 2017. Some of them swore on the campaign trail that they’d never support him. Senators-elect Adam Hamilton (D-Kan.), Troy Jackson (D-Maine), Julianna Stratton (D-Ill.), Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.), and Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.) have all voiced their disapproval.
Let’s be honest here: Jeffries and Schumer will both keep their jobs. The real story is who holds the leash. A party that wins big and immediately turns on its own leaders for not being radical enough has already handed the steering wheel to its loudest activists. Whoever gets the titles, the radical left gets to drive, and it’s taking the Democrat Party somewhere even further left than it already is.
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