The race to lead the House after the 2026 midterms

Jeffries formally asked House Democrats to make him speaker, pledging "accountability" for the Trump administration, though some progressives said he was not going far enough.^[1] He and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were poised to become the first congressional leaders from the same state since the 1950s.^[6] A Change.org petition saying the speaker "should represent the Democratic voters, not just the Democratic establishment" drew support from the actor Mark Ruffalo^[4][7] and passed 920,000 signatures, and Democratic lawmakers told Axios they were being flooded with calls and emails urging them not to elect Jeffries.^[5]

On the Republican side, Johnson, who was expected to stay on as a rank-and-file member from Louisiana, told staff the day after the election that he would not run for minority leader.^[2] Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, made his third run for the party's top House post against Majority Leader Steve Scalise,^[3] and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger challenged Majority Whip Tom Emmer for the whip job.^[8] Johnson's own rise to the speakership is followed in the arc on the 2023 speaker fights.