Don Leonard Says Democrats Threatened Him Over Jeffries Vote

In a video covered by Drop Site News, Leonard said party leaders responded to his requests with threats “like the stuff you see in the movies.” He said they told him that refusing to support Jeffries “regardless” of his demands could bring two years of trouble in Washington and ensure he lost his next election. The leaders were not named in the account.

Leonard, who flipped Ohio’s heavily Republican 15th Congressional District blue last Tuesday, said his conditions were a constitutional amendment overturning the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which struck down restrictions on independent election spending by corporations and unions, and an end to U.S. support for the war in Iran and Israel, which he said led the United States into it. He said he expected pressure after taking office and feared Democratic colleagues might withdraw support if he did not “wear the team jersey.”

Jeffries, who has led House Democrats since succeeding Nancy Pelosi in early 2023, has no declared challenger. But Axios reported that House Democrats had received a surge of calls and emails urging them to oppose his speaker bid. One unnamed senior Democrat said they received more than 500 calls in two days; an unnamed chief of staff said their office received about 300, many backing Rep. Jamie Raskin, who has shown no public interest in running.

A challenge would require roughly 40 Democrats to vote for another candidate. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Drop Site that organizing such a challenge “should be absolutely part of the conversation,” but said blocking Jeffries was not realistic without a clear alternative. In October polling by RedBox Research among likely voters in 31 races across 11 states, 19% favored Jeffries for speaker and 48% preferred “someone else.” Among Democratic respondents, the figures were 39% and 38%, respectively. In the Senate, Sen. Chris Van Hollen is considering a challenge to Chuck Schumer’s leadership; Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed has said he would support Van Hollen if he runs.