Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has apparently written off trying to win the seat of Elise Stefanik, and is pushing for a bill to delay a special election.
But behind the scenes, their motivation was far more political, and was driven by Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top House Democrat, who saw an opportunity to manipulate the law to slow Republicans' agenda in Washington.
In a series of phone calls and a private lunch on Friday at a Manhattan steakhouse with Gov. Kathy Hochul, he aggressively pushed for legislation that would give the governor far more time to call special elections for unoccupied legislative seats, according to several people familiar with the discussionsMr. Jeffries had one looming vacancy in particular in mind: the House seat that Representative Elise Stefanik would step down from if she is confirmed as President Trump’s U.N. ambassador.
The political malpractice of this is off the charts. 1. Democrats won a State Senate District that looks a lot like Stefanik's district in Iowa last week. What would slow down the Republicans agenda more than losing what was previously regarded as a safe seat and making every Republican member in a seat less Republican than that nervous? 2. We can't endlessly scream about how democracy matters then try to make backroom deals to delay votes. Delaying voting will be adopted by the Republicans and the media will both sides this. 3. These kind of backroom deals are what the public hates about politics and is the fuel for the anti-politician Trump.
This also makes it clear that leadership is out of touch. For the past five cycles the House and Senate Leaders have all hailed from New York and California. If it weren't for under performances in both states but especially New York, Democrats would've had a majority in 2023-2025 in the House. And may well have one now. If a Leader doesn't have faith in his own ability to win a tough seat in his own state, then how is he going to win similar districts, which a party has to do to have a sustainable majority?
Leader Jeffries should let the election happen as planned and try to win it. Though the worst part about this is that this article in the Times screams that We Democrats don't think they can win, which may turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.