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<\/a><\/p>\nERROL LOUIS:\u00a0Welcome back to Inside City Hall. With just over 90 days to go until the midterm elections, Democratic leaders have entered what they are calling a sprint to flip control of Congress. My next guest has been spending his time traveling all around the country stumping for candidates who want to do just that. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries represents parts of Brooklyn that include all or part of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, East New York and Coney Island. Congressman Jeffries joins me now from Brooklyn to talk about the upcoming midterms and more. Good evening, and welcome back to the program.<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Great to be with you, Errol.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0So, as of tonight, 92 days until the midterms. What is this Democratic sprint to the finish line going to look like?<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Well,\u00a0we\u2019ve made clear our promise to the American people is that we\u2019re fighting for an affordable America. We recognize that life in this country is far too expensive.\u00a0There are too many folks who are working hard, they\u2019re playing by the rules, but they are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, cannot thrive and can barely survive. So we need to turn that situation around. And\u00a0we\u2019re committed to lowering the cost of groceries, lowering the cost of gas, lowering the cost of housing and making life more affordable in this great country.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0Last week, we spoke with one of your colleagues, Representative Tom Suozzi, who was one of only two Democrats that flipped Republican districts to Democratic in districts that Trump also won in 2024. Here\u2019s what he had to say.<\/p>\n
RECORDING OF REP. TOM SUOZZI:\u00a0Well, if you look at the DSA candidates that won for Congress, they won in deep, deep blue seats in primaries. You know, they don\u2019t have to worry about the general. They only have to worry about the primaries. And who votes in primaries but this far-left part of the Party? Look at the Republicans who win the MAGA seats, the Freedom Caucus folks. They win in deep, deep red seats. They just try to appeal to this fringe of the Party. It\u2019s not going to sell to the country. It\u2019s always 40%, 40% and that 20% in the middle is where the fight is. And we\u2019ve got to appeal to those folks. And I can guarantee you, you\u2019re not going to appeal to them with a platform that says open the borders and defund the police and get rid of the Senate.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0So I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard this before, Congressman. He thinks 40% of the electorate is very progressive, 40% is MAGA conservative. The battle for control is a fight for the 20% in the middle. Is that your analysis as well?<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Well, we\u2019re working hard to make sure that Tom Suozzi is reelected, of course, along with Laura Gillen and Josh Riley here in New York. And we\u2019re also going to flip a seat in NY-17 in the Westchester, Rockland County area currently held by Mike Lawler. Cait Conley, a decorated Marine\u2014a decorated combat veteran, I should say\u2014is going to win that seat, and she\u2019s running hard on the affordability message and solving problems for hardworking American taxpayers. I think that in order to win these elections\u2014it\u2019s going to be a competitive general election landscape, Errol\u2014that\u00a0we have to do two things: energize the base while, of course, moving swing voters, centrist voters, moderate voters, Independent voters in our direction.\u00a0Candidates like Tom Suozzi have proven that they can do that incredibly well, as well as our Frontline candidates all across the country. And then we\u2019ve got to flip a handful of seats in order to take back control of the House of Representatives. I think\u00a0what unifies Democrats across the country and aligns with Independents and swing voters is the reality that we have to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America, and that affordability message is going to be critical to our success.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0Congressman Suozzi specifically says that Democrats should be challenging the DSA\u2019s national platform, which calls for, among other things, abolishing the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Supreme Court, opening the national borders, having the government take outright ownership of major industries. Is that a conversation that you want to have? He says he\u2019s going to get tarred with all of this anyhow, and so they\u2014there needs to be some kind of a response. What do you think about that?<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Well, I certainly don\u2019t support open borders, I don\u2019t support defunding the police and I don\u2019t support abolishing the Senate. But\u00a0I do support the notion that we\u2019ve got to fix what\u2019s broken here in the United States of America and ensure that capitalism can actually serve the greatest number of people, that the economy works for working-class Americans and that we\u2019ve got to do all that we can to make life more comfortable, more affordable and ensure that everyone has access to a middle-class life. That, again, I think is a principle that unifies not just Democrats across the ideological spectrum, but Independents, of course, are abandoning Republicans in droves because they know that\u00a0Republicans haven\u2019t done a damn thing to actually make life more affordable for the American people.\u00a0In fact, because of Trump policies, like the Trump tariffs, costs have gone up. Increased expenses on everyday Americans, everyday New Yorkers, by thousands of dollars per year. And of course,\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s reckless war of choice in Iran has skyrocketed gas prices and made life more expensive. We need to push back against all of that and move this country in a different direction.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0Let me ask you about the dynamic\u2014actually, Congressman Suozzi talked about this as well\u2014the dynamic, broadly speaking, historically that social movements push the Democrats from the outside to push for environmental legislation or the labor movement that pushed FDR, the Civil Rights Movement that pushed President Johnson, the Occupy Wall Street movement that tried to push President Obama and spawn the Sunrise Movement. Is there a role for DSA activists to create momentum for the legislation that you want to see pass that you just described?<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Well, primary voters are going to make their decisions, and I will always respect the will of primary voters in those deep blue districts. At the same period of time, I think what is clear\u2014in order for Democrats to go from the minority into the majority so we can end this national nightmare, we do have to own the center and win over centrist voters, Independent voters and swing voters. At the end of the day, that is the only way for us to be in a position to govern and to get big things done for the American people. I do think, again, that\u00a0what unites all of us at this moment in time is going to be the fact that the cost of living is too high. America is way too expensive.\u00a0And in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it should not be stressful when you have to go to the grocery store, but it is right now. It should not be stressful when you have to fill up your gas tank, but it is right now. It certainly shouldn\u2019t be stressful when you have to pay your rent or pay the mortgage, but\u00a0for millions of people all across our city, our state, our region and the country, it\u2019s way too stressful because the cost of living is too high, and we\u2019re committed to relentlessly driving it down.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0OK. The last time you and I spoke was on primary night. Shortly after our conversation, in fact, while it was airing, there\u2019s this video of people chanting, \u2018You\u2019re next.\u2019 It went viral. This was on the night when two Democratic incumbents were defeated, and the choice of a third incumbent, Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, also lost. This is a little bit about what that sounded like.<\/p>\n
[Recording of people chanting]<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0It\u2019s a brief enough moment, but I know you well enough to know that you don\u2019t take political challenges lightly. Are New York\u2019s Democrats planning to compete with or eventually do battle against the DSA?<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Well, primaries are a way of life, and so to the extent that people have an interest in primaring any of us, certainly myself, come on in, the water is warm. What is interesting\u2014I did see some clips of that particular gathering. It didn\u2019t necessarily resemble, in terms of demographically, the working-class communities of color that I represent in large parts of the district, certainly in traditional Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brownsville, in East New York, in Canarsie, the west end of Coney Island or, for that matter, the neighborhoods in Southern Brooklyn that I represent. So, people are going to do what they do and are free to do what they want to do moving forward. And in the House of Representatives, we only have a two-year employment contract. We\u2019ve gotta go make our case every two years to the voters, and that\u2019s certainly something that all of us should take seriously and be prepared to do aggressively in advance of the 2028 cycle. But what\u2019s in front of us\u2014it\u2019s ironic to me that you\u2019ve got some folks who are focused on 2028 primaries when\u00a0we have an existential crisis in the United States of America right now and we\u2019ve got to go actually defeat Republicans who have jammed extremism down the throats of the American people, ripped up the Voting Rights Act, made life more expensive, gone to war over in Iran. And it\u2019s just been one disaster after another. And so at this moment in time, Errol, I think\u00a0those of us in the congressional delegation are going to focus on actually doing what\u2019s necessary to take back control of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0You keep a better running count, obviously, than most of the rest of us, but with all of the redistricting that has happened, some of it has been in conservative states, some of it has been in progressive states. Some of it is intended to create Republican-leaning seats, some Democratic-leaning seats. Where do things stand? Last time I talked to you, you said you thought there were about 45 seats that you could try and flip, keeping in mind that in 2018, I think it was something like 41 seats that changed hands.<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Yeah, so we began this Congress just three seats short, holding Republicans after the 2024 election to the narrowest majority that any Congress has held since 1930. As a result of what the Supreme Court has unleashed with its horrific decision to gut the Voting Rights Act and then as a result of what Republicans have done in a handful of states in the South by bringing to life Jim Crow-like tactics to try to rip up districts that were designed to give historically discriminated-against communities in the South, the opportunity\u2014Black communities\u2014to elect the candidates of their choice, it may be the case, Errol, that we\u2019ve got to flip a total of about six seats net in this upcoming general election, which by the way, as you pointed out, Errol, is just a fraction of the 40 seats that we flipped on election night in November of 2018 during Donald Trump\u2019s first midterm election. So we\u2019re going to run through the finish line.\u00a0We\u2019re focused, of course, on fighting for an affordable America, lowering the high cost of living, making healthcare affordable for every single New Yorker and every single American and at the same period of time combating corruption and holding the crooks accountable who are making life more expensive for the American people.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0Okay, let me ask you. We got to end on a local note, of course, Congressman. There\u2019s this fight going on right now to control the Brooklyn Democratic Organization, which is the second-largest county in the nation of enrolled Democrats. Are you supporting the current leader, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, or the reform group that is trying to replace her?<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Yeah, you know what? I haven\u2019t had a conversation with either Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, and I don\u2019t know this individual who has been put forth by the alternate slate of district leaders. I do look forward to having a conversation, certainly initially, with the current Chairwoman about her intentions before deciding how best to move forward in ensuring that we have an effective and an equitable and an inclusive Brooklyn Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
ERROL LOUIS:\u00a0Okay, we will leave it there for now. Best of luck on the campaign trail in this final sprint. Thanks so much for spending some time with us.<\/p>\n
LEADER JEFFRIES:\u00a0Thank you so much.<\/p>\n