Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) made a fierce pitch as the face of generational change. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images congress Hakeem Jeffries defeats Barbara Lee in battle for Dem Caucus chair Jeffries is seen by many House Democrats as a potential future party leader.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was elected Democratic Caucus chairman Wednesday, a position that could tee him up to become the first African-American speaker one day.

Jeffries (D-N.Y.) triumphed over Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a fellow Congressional Black Caucus member, on a 123-113 vote. But for some members of the Democratic Caucus, which next year will be younger and more diverse than ever, Jeffries’ victory is much more symbolic than the No. 5 leadership post he’ll occupy.


Democrats on Wednesday re-elected their top three leaders, all of whom are nearing 80 and have been in power for more than a dozen years, but many members believe a change in the top ranks will come sooner rather than later. And Jeffries' new job puts him in a prime position to quickly scale the ranks whenever the current team steps down.

“Hakeem is the present and the future,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a close ally of Jeffries who had counseled him for several months about a leadership run. “And I think that the reason why he won is he’s demonstrated to the caucus that he’s one that can bring us all together.”

The cavernous auditorium in which Democrats huddled to pick their slate of leaders had a rallylike atmosphere during the Jeffries-Lee contest, according to several people in the room.

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Lee had lined up more than two dozen supporters from all corners of the caucus to stand behind her, a live illustration of Democrats’ racial, age and gender diversity, according to sources.

Jeffries, meanwhile, was compared to former President Barack Obama by Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), one of the supporters who gave a speech in favor of his nomination.

When it was Jeffries’ turn to speak, he pumped up the crowd by ticking off a list of landmark legislative achievements from the past several decades, including the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the Affordable Care Act.

“We did that. Democrats did that,” Jeffries said, according to an attendee.

He then pivoted to President Donald Trump, telling his colleagues that the days of “bending over backward” to compromise are over and promising an aggressive response to Trump’s agenda, according to a source in the room.

But for Jeffries, the victory didn’t come without controversy. Some Lee backers left the meeting accusing colleagues of being ageist in choosing Jeffries, 48, over Lee, 72. Jeffries brushed aside the charges, saying the race was “a friendly contest of ideas.”

Both Jeffries and Lee are well liked within the caucus, and several members were undecided as they headed into the closed-door election. For Democrats, the race had implications far beyond tapping the person who would preside over their weekly meetings and provides a clue into the pulse of the caucus heading into the majority.

Lee, one of the Democrats' most liberal members, is perhaps best known for casting the lone vote against authorizing military force shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

But the California Democrat, a 20-year incumbent, also symbolized the seniority system to which the caucus has long hewed, and which has frustrated some lawmakers.

A former leader of both the CBC and Congressional Progressive Caucus, she has unsuccessfully sought leadership positions — including caucus chair — in the past. Several members said Lee deserved the caucus chairmanship after paying her dues for years.

Lee had the backing of several CBC elders, including three former leaders of the group, Reps. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, Marcia Fudge of Ohio and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.

She also touted herself as a potential history-maker on the heels of an election that swept in the most diverse and female class of lawmakers in history. Had she been elected, Lee would have been the first African-American woman to serve in House leadership.

Jeffries, on the other hand, made a fierce pitch as the face of generational change. With Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her two deputies, Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), running unopposed, Jeffries provides a stark contrast to the old guard.

Jeffries is currently in the lower tier of leadership as a co-chairman of House Democrats’ messaging arm. He has also notched several bipartisan wins this Congress, including a prison reform bill that overwhelmingly passed the House and is backed by Trump.

"I don't think anybody who was junior to Barbara Lee would have necessarily beat her simply because they're new," said Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.). "But that was one of several factors."

For Jeffries, his win Wednesday is a victorious endnote on a winding road that started unexpectedly in the middle of the summer. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), then the House Democratic Caucus chairman and the presumed heir apparent to Pelosi, was unexpectedly ousted by primary challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Crowley’s loss not only opened up the caucus chairmanship but set off a flurry of activity among House Democrats eager to see a new and younger leadership team installed after the election.

After Lee announced her plans to run for the caucus post in July, several members pressured Jeffries to jump into the race.

At a secret meeting organized by Meeks over the summer, around 20 members strategized with Jeffries about his future, with some pushing him to run for caucus leader and others making the case for why he should challenge Pelosi for speaker.

Jeffries put off formally making a decision about the caucus chair race, not announcing he was running for the job until after the midterm elections. Some members had already committed to Lee, who had been working her colleagues since the summer.

Heading into the caucus vote Wednesday, several Democratic insiders said they weren’t sure how the race would shake out. Lee, the progressive stalwart and senior member who had put in years of work building relationships across the caucus, versus Jeffries, the fresh face and agent for change.

Now Jeffries is in a prime position to quickly ascend the leadership ranks, which have long had a bottleneck at the top.

Pelosi clinched the Democratic nomination for speaker Wednesday but is still trying to beat back a potential challenge by a dozen-plus Democrats. Those Pelosi critics have vowed to oppose her on the floor in January, denying her a second time in the speaker’s chair.

Pelosi allies are confident she’ll peel off enough of the dissenters within the next month to win on the House floor. But the California Democrat has already started to talk broadly about moving toward a new crop of Democratic leaders, even as she has refused to put any kind of timeline on that transition.

For Jeffries' supporters, they are confident his next job could be wielding the gavel.

"In time, he will be [speaker]," said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.).

Rachael Bade and Nolan McCaskill contributed to this report.

