Hakeem Jeffries

Hakeem Sekou Jeffries (; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician. He is the U.S. Representative for New York's 8th congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2023, he became the House Minority Leader, the first African-American to hold this position or to be a congressional party leader.

Personal life
Jeffries was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He studied at Binghamton University, Georgetown University and New York University. In 1997, he married Kennisandra Arciniegas. They have two children.

Political career
Jeffries was elected and reelected, serving in the New York State Assembly for a Brooklyn district from 2007 to 2012. During this time, he introduced over 70 bills.

On November 28, 2018, Jeffries defeated California Congresswoman Barbara Lee to become chair of the House Democratic Caucus. His term began when the new Congress was sworn in on January 3, 2019.

On November 30, 2022, Jeffries was elected to lead the Democratic Party caucus in the House of Representatives in 2023, replacing Nancy Pelosi. 

When Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker, Jeffries handed him the gavel after a 15-minute speech. The speech was called the "ABCs of Democracy". The video of Jeffries's alphabet speech has been viewed over 2.4 million times on social media alone.

References

Other websites
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries official U.S. House website
Hakeem Jeffries for Congress official campaign website
Hakeem Jeffries wiki quotes 

Category:1970 births
Category:Living people
Category:United States representatives from New York (state)
Category:American political activists
Category:African-American politicians
Category:Politicians from New York City
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians
Category:Minority leaders of the United States House of Representatives
Category:African-American politicians