Hakeem Jeffries is staging a takeover of the New York Democrats. His hope to become Speaker may depe [View all]

[RandySF]

CNN — Hakeem Jeffries’ path to winning the majority and becoming speaker runs through his backyard in New York, and he is methodically staging a takeover of Democratic House campaigns in the state to make it happen.

Jeffries, a New York Democrat, is installing his own loyalists in key positions as he effectively takes over much of the state party operations that would usually be controlled by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

CNN’s conversations with two dozen elected officials and operatives involved detail the extent that the House minority leader is already digging in, a year and a half ahead of the 2024 elections: he’s hosting regular political brainstorming dinners in Washington with the Democrats in the state’s House delegation, deputizing several to oversee political operations down to the county level. He’s making his case personally to some of the biggest Democratic donors in the country. He’s personally traveling to swing congressional districts all around the state.

New Yorkers always think of themselves as the center of the universe. In the battle for control of the House next year, they sort of will be: Democrats need five seats to get the majority in the US House in 2024, and there are currently six Republican freshmen who won last year in Democratic-leaning districts of New York.




https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/28/politics/hakeem-jeffries-takeover-new-york-democrats/index.html