Hakeem Jeffries, the level-headed Democrat poised to become the first Black speaker of the House of Representatives

Shortly after it was confirmed that Democrats had won control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections, an elated Hakeem Jeffries took the podium and declared: “America is back.” The room erupted in applause and cheers. Smiling, he looked from side to side as if savoring a long-awaited moment.“I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn. Union household. Raised in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. I learned very early on that a setback was nothing more than a setup for a comeback. Today begins the great American comeback,” the Democratic congressman continued. It is a comeback in which Jeffries himself — who was comfortably reelected for an eighth consecutive term as representative for New York’s 8th District — is a central figure; the victory puts him on track to become the first Black speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.It was past 11 p.m. when Jeffries spoke from his victory celebration in Washington, D.C. The lower chamber had already been declared Democratic and the count suggested his party would likely regain a Senate majority as well. Jeffries had every reason to be smiling.Jeffries has already made history as the first Black lawmaker to lead either party in Congress: since 2023 he has been the House Democratic minority leader. Now that his party has retaken the House, his name is being widely mentioned for the post of speaker, currently held by Republican Mike Johnson. First, the New Yorker will have to secure the support of his colleagues in the vote. That will not be easy in a divided party.Many, however, are already taking it for granted: when Jeffries stepped onstage at his Tuesday party while Unbelievable, by the Notorious B.I.G. — widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time — played in the background, the crowd chanted: “Speaker Jeffries! Speaker Jeffries!”Biggie’s BrooklynThe choice of that Biggie song was no accident. Notorious B.I.G. was born in Brooklyn, as was Jeffries. In fact, the rapper was born just two years after the politician and they grew up not far from each other. Jeffries, 56, was raised in the Clinton Hill neighborhood. As he often recalls, Clinton Hill was then a tough, working-class area where crime and drugs — particularly crack — were common, a very different panorama from the gentrified neighborhood it is today.The son of a social worker and a therapist who specialized in addiction, Jeffries absorbed the ideas of the African American civil rights movement and Black activism as he grew up. He was deeply involved in the Black Baptist church — his grandmother even believed he would become a pastor — and he has said the congregation prepared him for a life of public service.Jeffries earned his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a master’s in public policy from Georgetown, and a law degree from New York University School of Law. He worked as a corporate lawyer and served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012 before being elected to Congress, winning the seat that Edolphus Towns had held for three decades.A ‘transformative change’In the Capitol, Jeffries has always been a cautious, moderate figure. While he does not shy away from strongly criticizing Donald Trump or his party, he prefers to avoid public confrontations and disputes that could later put him in a difficult position. Although some Democratic colleagues have praised his collaborative style, his reflective character has drawn criticism that Jeffries can be slow to act in a frenetic political environment where voters expect quick responses to the many crises that have become daily fare under the Trump administration.Now those concerns will resurface as Jeffries begins his bid to become House speaker and works to rally colleagues to his cause.In Tuesday night’s speech, the congressman seemed to try to allay those concerns. “The American people are crying out for transformational change. We hear you. We’re going to work hard to deliver on the dramatic change that you deserve,” Jeffries pledged.In his remarks, the representative said that when his party takes the House in January, its priority will be to address the affordability crisis affecting the entire country. Poor economic performance and the high cost of living driven by the war in Iran, pursued by Trump alongside Israel, was precisely the main reason Democrats swept these elections.Jeffries has also said on several occasions that he would launch investigations into Trump and his inner circle. However, after the party’s victory on Tuesday, the congressman said that removing Trump from office is not a priority for House Democrats, and instead emphasized that the party is focused on affordability and exercising oversight of the executive branch. The House of Representatives has the exclusive authority to initiate an impeachment process against a president, something it already did with Trump twice during his first term.As Jeffries tries to unite the House Democratic caucus, he will face challenges. Among them is persuading the party’s most progressive wing, which emerged strengthened from these elections with the victories of several candidates from the socialist current who view him as a representative of the establishment that has long opposed their progressive causes. For the newly elected members of the Democratic Socialists, Jeffries’ unwavering support for Israel is a hard sell. The congressman has strong financial ties to AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel political action committee in the United States.Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition