Hakeem Jeffries doubles down on Dems’ and affordability ahead of midterms

Campaign Hakeem Jeffries doubles down on Dems’ and affordability ahead of midterms Comments: by Max Rego - 07/26/26 9:30 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 07/26/26 9:30 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) kicked off the 100-day sprint to the midterms on Sunday, arguing his party will address the cost of living if it wrestles back control of Congress.

“In 100 days, you can vote for an America that is affordable and lower the cost of groceries, gas, and housing. In 100 days, you can vote for an America where affordable healthcare is available to every single citizen,” Jeffries said at a rally in Pennsylvania alongside Democratic House candidate Bob Brooks.

Brooks, a firefighter union leader, is seeking to unseat freshman GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (Pa.). Mackenzie won his 2024 race over former Democratic Rep. Susan Wild (Pa.) by less than 5,000 votes, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates his bid for a second two-year term as a “toss up.”

On Sunday, Jeffries also touted his party’s other priorities should it win back control of Congress. He said Democrats will rein in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, force President Trump to wind down the nearly five-month war in Iran and compel the Justice Department to release the rest of its unpublicized files related to its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Yet Jeffries, echoing the rhetoric from Democratic incumbents and challengers across the country, often circled back to economic issues.

“In 100 days, you can vote for an America where young people have a chance to purchase a home and start a family,” the Democratic leader said, with the message “Fighting for an affordable America” plastered behind him. “In 100 days, you can vote for an America that keeps our promise to our cherished seniors by protecting your Social Security and your Medicare.”

While more GOP-led than Democratic-led state legislatures redrew their congressional maps during a monthslong mid-cycle redistricting war, Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) still gives the minority party a 60 percent chance of taking control of the lower chamber.

The incumbent president’s party has also not maintained control of the House in the midterms since 2002 — Republicans kept control of the chamber in 2014, after flipping it in 2010 during former President Obama’s first term.

When accounting for vacancies, Democrats need to flip just three seats to reclaim a majority in the House. If that were to happen, Jeffries could become the first Black Speaker in American history.

But DDHQ gives Republicans a 6 in 10 chance at keeping control of the Senate. To flip the upper chamber, Democrats need to win four GOP-held seats and hold serve on the seats they already control, as a 50-50 tie in the upper chamber means Vice President Vance will serve as the tie-breaker on party-line votes.

Republicans in recent weeks have used the victories of multiple far-left candidates in Democratic primaries in New York City and Colorado to argue the opposition has veered too far left. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) even said earlier this month his party is trying to prevent “communism” from taking over the country.

“We’re fighting right now in Congress over whether we’re going to maintain our status as a constitutional republic or we’re going to trade that in, dismantle the foundations and go down this dark road of death to communism,” Johnson said at a press conference at the Republican National Committee.

But Jeffries on Sunday laid out his counterargument: if given power, Democrats will stand up to the “crooks” that are “screwing over” Americans. That includes cracking down on companies he said are price-gouging, reforming the Supreme Court and banning the president, vice president and members of Congress from trading stocks.

“We are going to hold the crooks accountable,” Jeffries added. “Anyone who is stealing from the American people, screwing over the American people or short-changing the American people is going to be held accountable, beginning on day one.”