Jeffries’ job grows more difficult in race for House and speaker’s gavel

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., describes the Democrats' fight to regain the House majority even as Republicans pursue redistricting efforts across the South following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affects majority-Black congressional districts, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 2026-05-14T09:20:19Z Washington (AP) — House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had warned Republicans they would come to regret the congressional redistricting fight , and when Democrats counterpunched last month with a redrawn Virginia map, he had made his point. The net tally of seats gained and lost was essentially a wash. “F— around and find out,” said Jeffries after the election victory. But in a matter of days, the race for control of the House — and the speaker’s gavel — was dramatically reset by back-to-back court rulings that wiped out the Democratic gains in Virginia and now threaten to erode Black representation by Democrats in the Deep South. The shifting political prospects have been a wake-up call for Democrats, who have been favored to win back the House this November, riding the wave of President Donald Trump’s dipping approval ratings , and a test for Jeffries as the party faces an enlarging map of Republican-friendly seats. The leader’s aligned outside group has spent some $60 million, much of it on Virginia alone, a hit to the Democrats’ resources as they confront Trump’s Republicans. “It sort of crystallizes the election is now a contest between one side that has the money and the maps, and the other that has the voters and the candidates,” said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and former deputy director of the House Democrats’ campaign arm. Jeffries would make history as the first Black speaker of the House Jeffries, who is in line to make history as America’s first Black speaker of the House , acknowledged the Democrats may need to flip twice as many Republican seats — a total gain of six rather than just three — to win the majority in the aftermath of the redistricting fights. But he insisted that Democrats were on track to pick up seats, as they did in 2018 during Trump’s first term, because Republicans are relying on redistricting — rather than policy solutions — to win elections. Trump Republicans “don’t give a damn” about Americans’ financial struggles, Jeffries said, paraphrasing the president’s own remarks . (