Hakeem Jeffries rejects call to primary ‘asleep at the wheel’ Democrat incumbents

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday he plans to support incumbent Democrats in 2026, despite calls by others in his party to use primaries to clean house.

Describing primary battles as a “fact of life,” Mr. Jeffries said his focus is on flipping Republican seats and control of the House of Representatives.

“I look forward to standing behind every single Democratic incumbent, from the most progressive to the most centrist and all points in between,” the New York Democrat said on ABC’s “This Week.” “But here is the thing, I am going to really focus on trying to defeat Republican incumbents so we can take back control of the House of Representatives, and begin the process of ending this national nightmare that is being visited upon us by far-right extremism.”

His comments came after he was asked about DNC Vice Chair David Hogg’s controversial vow to spend $20 million toward unseating sitting Democrats in primary elections next year to usher in a new generation of party leaders.

“We need a better democracy party and need to get rid of the Democrats in safe seats who do not understand what is at stake right now, who are asleep at the wheel, not meeting the moment, and are a liability now and to the future of our party,” Mr. Hogg said in a recent social media post.

Mr. Hogg is targeting Democrats through the organization he co-founded, Leaders We Deserve.

The effort has faced stiff blowback from Democrats.

“The most insane thing I ever heard is the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee is spending $20 million to run against other Democrats,” James Carville, a veteran Democrat, said recently on CNN. “Aren’t we supposed to run against Republicans?”

However, Mr. Hogg has stood his ground, saying Mr. Carville believes in “timid” politics and that the party needs to change its approach to improve its image with voters.

“The fact of the matter right now, our party is in a crisis,” he said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” “We are seeing people lose faith in our party. They are losing faith in democracy across the country, and we need to make sure that we are getting people to vote for Democrats, not simply because we are not Donald Trump, but because we have a better message, a better option for them.”

Mr. Hogg said the party will not be able to win back the House majority and install Mr. Jeffries as speaker if the party does not offer something “substantially better than Donald Trump.”