Hakeem Jeffries is presenting himself as a hard-charging leader of his party, pushing a crash blue-state redistricting program to counter President Donald Trump’s moves to add Republican seats in Texas, Missouri and elsewhere.
But behind the scenes, the House minority leader is encountering the limits of his power — and the credibility of Democrats’ counterattack. Just this week, some Illinois lawmakers sent Jeffries a clear message they were not interested in pursuing a redraw that could dilute their districts with additional GOP votes. And in his home state of New York, state and party officials have all but rejected his suggestion they draw a new map, saying it’s not legally possible ahead of the midterms.
Jeffries privately met with members of the Illinois delegation on Tuesday to hear out their redistricting concerns, according to five people granted anonymity to share details of the discussion. Jeffries told them to keep all of their options open but acknowledged every Democratic member of the congressional delegation would need to buy in to a redraw before it could move forward, the people said.
After a post-2020 Census revision, only three of the state’s 17 congressional districts are represented by Republicans. But up to four Democratic incumbents could face tougher races if those GOP-held seats were made bluer, said Rep. Robin Kelly, a former chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
“We have to look out and protect who we have because we fought hard to get them in,” Kelly said in an interview. “I’m not a mapmaker, but it seems like it will be very difficult.”
“Everyone is talking about it,” she added, when asked if she had registered her concerns to Jeffries or Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Some in the party believe that because four incumbent Illinois Democrats are exiting, including Kelly, there might be some wiggle room to redraw lines without undue disruption. But Rep. Lauren Underwood, who is seeking reelection in one of those potentially marginal districts, was blunt: “I don’t think redistricting is happening in Illinois,” she said. “Talking about it and it happening are two different things. We get on the ballot in six weeks.”
The internal pushback is the latest complication Jeffries faces in delivering the Democratic base a fight against Trump’s majority-protection play — and delivering himself the House gavel in the midterms.
Jeffries has worked to put himself at the forefront of the nationwide…
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