Among the candidates withholding support for Jeffries are both long-shot challengers and serious contenders running in key battlegrounds. Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh, two leading Democrats vying to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), both told Axios they are not ready to pledge support for the current House leader.
Several other high-profile challengers — including Luke Bronin, Donavan McKinney, Mai Vang, Saikat Chakrabarti, and Patrick Roath — also declined to commit, despite running well-funded campaigns that could realistically flip or hold competitive seats. Their hesitance underscores an ideological tension that is becoming increasingly difficult for the Democratic establishment to ignore.
Heath Howard, a New Hampshire state representative campaigning for an open U.S. House seat, captured the sentiment of many progressive voices. “I think we need a new type of leadership that’s going to fight back significantly harder against the Trump administration,” he said.
Abughazaleh, meanwhile, took a more confrontational tone, saying she would support “a leader who is taking actual action against this administration” and argued that “the left should use our leverage to demand progressive change.”
Amanda Edwards, a former Houston city council member running in a Texas special election, offered a tempered but telling response: “We’ve got to see improvement, without question.”
Harry Jarin, a firefighter challenging former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), was more direct. “The anger of the base right now is not being matched by Democratic leadership,” he told Axios. “And that is going to have to change one way or another.”
A recurring complaint from Jeffries’ critics centers on his refusal to endorse Zohran Mamdani, the socialist New York City mayoral candidate. Many left-wing Democrats view this as a betrayal of the party’s grassroots energy and a signal that leadership is distancing itself from the progressive movement. “His refusal to endorse Zohran makes me nervous that, if I were to become the nominee in my race, he and the party would not support me,” said Jacob Lawrence, who is running to unseat Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards (N.C.).
Saikat Chakrabarti, a prominent progressive activist and former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), added a pointed jab: “What is it that Hakeem said about endorsing Zohran? ‘I’ll have conversations with him and see where it goes.’”
Despite the criticism, Jeffries still enjoys near-total backing among current Democratic lawmakers and remains a unifying figure for moderates and centrists who credit him with steering the caucus through turbulent political storms. Yet, as 2026 draws closer, the question lingers: can he maintain that balance in a party increasingly split between pragmatism and progressivism?
For now, the cracks remain subtle — but widening. Whether they evolve into a full-scale fracture may determine not only Jeffries’ political fate but also the future identity of the Democratic Party itself.