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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who is seen as a leader among New Yorks Democrats in Congress and a critic of the partys left wing, seemed to purposefully leave out a name among the candidates running in the 10th Congressional District.

There are multiple candidates who are highly qualified, in my view, to represent that district, many of whom Ive worked with, including Carlina Rivera, Dan Goldman, Mondaire Jones and Jo Anne Simon, Jeffries said in a roundtable interview with reporters in Downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday. Its still a very highly competitive race, he continued, And any of four or five candidates could conceivably win. And any of the candidates who are in the top tier, any of the candidates that Ive mentioned who Ive worked closely with who are in the top tier, are people Id be happy to work with, should they be successful.

Left unmentioned was Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, another member of that races top tier, and somebody who has positioned herself as the most progressive candidate in the Aug. 23 primary with her endorsements, her pledge against donations from real estate developers (with some exceptions) and support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movements right to engage in protest against the Israeli government.

To be fair, Niou and Jeffries represent different boroughs, and their districts are miles apart. Theres no readily apparent example of the two working together on either political or government work. The Brooklyn representative simply may not know her like he knows the others. But Jeffries is a particularly careful speaker who answers questions slowly and deliberately. And he has never been one to hide his disdain for the partys left wing, especially when it comes to electoral challenges to more moderate incumbents.

Jeffries dug in again last week, when asked if he thought the progressive movement had hit a wall, electorally.

Politically, the left did have some success in primarying Democratic incumbents in 2018, and 2020, Jeffries conceded, no doubt in reference to candidates supported by the progressive PAC Justice Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unseated Joe Crowley, and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who unseated Eliot Engel. But a lot of their electoral momentum began to dissipate shortly after Biden was elected. Its a question that the Justice Democrats and others have to ask: Why are we losing race after race after race, running against Joe Biden and the Democratic Party? Perhaps the voters are sending us a message.

Jeffries pointed to a couple examples of congressional primaries Nina Turners back-to-back losses to Rep. Shontel Brown in Ohio, Rep. Henry Cuellars win over Jessica Cisneros in Texas and Rep. Danny Davis big win over Kina Collins in Illinois. That could be the case locally too. The Democratic Socialists of America backed five candidates who werent incumbents in the June Democratic primary, and only one of them succeeded compared to 2020, when DSA went 5 for 5. But Jeffries may have overstated his case. Justice Democrats-backed Greg Casar and Summer Lee just won competitive primaries for open seats in Texas and Pennsylvania, respectively, and Sarahana Shrestha, who was endorsed by the DSA and the Working Families Party, defeated Assembly Member Kevin Cahill.

A similar dynamic could now be at play in the 10th District, an open seat covering lower Manhattan and northwestern Brooklyn. Niou isnt backed by the Justice Democrats or the DSA, but her coalition of supporters includes six DSA legislators, and she has the support of the WFP and other progressive groups like the Sunrise Movement. In the closing days, Nious campaign has tried to frame the crowded primary as a two-person race between her and Goldman. Shes the progressive insurgent woman of color, and hes the white male moderate Democrat, self-funding with $4 million.

Jeffries is not formally endorsing in that race, but he has weighed in on a few of the August races. Hes strongly supporting Democrat Pat Ryan over Republican Marc Molinaro in the special election in the 19th Congressional District though hes tempering expectations, and thinks Ryan may have a better shot in the new 18th Congressional District, which hes expected to contest in November. In New York City, hes supporting Angel Vasquez over state Sen. Robert Jackson following the lead of his ally Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who has prioritized that race himself. And hes backing state Sen. Kevin Parker, whos facing a vigorous challenge from DSA-backed David Alexis. It will be interesting to see whether the virtue signalers can break through in that particular context in a majority-Black district, Jeffries said, grinning with confidence.

But the representatives endorsements arent as clear and consistent as those of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who seems eager to back anybody opposed by the progressive movement. Jeffries, after all, gave Maya Wiley his No. 1 ranked endorsement in the 2021 mayoral race, joining a progressive coalition that included Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman. And this year, Jeffries declined to endorse Conrad Tillard, who is running against DSA state Sen. Jabari Brisport in the heart of Jeffries district.

I definitively have no disdain for progressive movement, being a progressive myself, and a longtime member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus from the moment I first arrived in Washington, D.C., Jeffries explained. Its important to understand theres a distinction between the socialist machine and mainstream progressives, which some of the virtue signalers on Twitter dont always focus on as a result of a seemingly myopic view of the political world.

Jeffries noted that Espaillat and Rep. Nydia Velzquez, both of whom endorsed Rivera in the 10th Congressional District, have been criticized online because they are not supporting candidates that are part of the ideological purity test. Thats not a legitimate frame, in Jeffries eyes. Representatives progressivism should instead be judged by their legislative record. (GovTrack ranked Jeffries the 90th most left-leaning member of Congress in 2020, out of 237 Democrats. Velzquez was 27th and Espaillat was 11th.) There are some forces on the left that want to define progressive as you bend the knee, and we tell you what to do, and if you fail to fall in line, youre a machine Democrat or a corporate sellout. Thats a joke, Jeffries said. And what weve seen consistently in race after race after race, over the last two years, is that the voters arent buying it.

Jeffries himself has a chance to prove that Tuesday. Hes facing a primary challenge from the left from Queen Johnson, a community organizer. Johnson hasnt reported any fundraising and hasnt been endorsed by even a single pillar of the citys progressive movement, so Jeffries, a powerful incumbent, is expected to win in a landslide.

But his real race may come up after November. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had previously said this would be her last term leading the Democrats. But she and other leading party members like Jeffries the fifth-ranking Democrat, as Democratic Caucus chair have been tight-lipped on who could take over. Jeffries is a leading contender, but hes got competition. And hes not eager to talk. I think all of us within leadership are appropriately and singularly focused on holding the House in a hypercompetitive midterm environment, because the stakes are so high, given how extreme Republicans have become in the aftermath of Trumps rise, he said. Taking their eyes off the effort to hold on to the majority would be political malpractice.

But have there even been private conversations about whether Pelosi will step down, and who would lobby their colleagues to replace her? Silence until after November, Jeffries said. And there have been no conversations, and I think thats appropriate, because everyones focused on doing the job that is in front of them at this moment. And it would be irresponsible for people to put their ambitions and aspirations that are personal in nature above the collective cause of getting big things done for everyday Americans and winning in November.

Unsurprisingly, Jeffries expects that, come November, Democrats will be discussing who should be speaker of the House, not minority leader.

Its going to be a hard-fought battle, he said. But I believe that were going to hold the House and pick up seats in the United States Senate.

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Hakeem Jeffries again challenges the left, on the eve of the primary - City & State