Jeffries says Democrats 'on the verge' of winning the House. It puts speaker's gavel in reach

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries listened from the front row at the old Ohio church as the Sunday congregation heard of scripture’s guidance for calming a gathering storm. “Wind, hush!” the speaker advised, describing the power to bring about change. Jeffries nodded along, the words resonating beyond the church’s soaring brick walls, days out from the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term in the White House.

“We’re on the verge of taking back control of the House,” Jeffries told The Associated Press in an interview afterward. “When this storm has passed, and it will, those of us who have served in the Congress during this time will be part of bringing about a better chapter in the United States of America,” he said. And failure is not an option.” Jeffries is on track to become House speaker, if Democrats sweep to power and elect him to the job, one of the most powerful positions in the U.S., second in line to the presidency.

He has been campaigning across the country in more than 50 cities for House Democrats as they try to oust Republicans and win back majority control. He would make history as the first Black American to hold the gavel. A new generation of leadership, a 100-days agenda The New York City-born Jeffries is a new generation of leadership at the Capitol, known for his deliberative, calm-is-a-choice style of governing.

He would be the first Democratic speaker since Nancy Pelosi of California. Democrats are preparing a 100-days agenda focused on lowering the cost of living and conducting oversight of Trump’s Republican administration, as Jeffries puts it, to “hold the crooks accountable.” “What we’ve seen is he is quietly effective,” said Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, outgoing chairman of their party’s centrist New Democrat Coalition.

“Rather than chasing rabbits, what Leader Jeffries has kept the caucus doing is focused on accomplishment, success and a plan for our future.” First elected in 2012, Jeffries is sandwiched between the Pelosi-era elders who have held great sway in Congress and liberal millennial New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s generation, bridging the two. A corporate lawyer, he grew up the son of a counselor and a social worker, steeped in Brooklyn’s Cornerstone Baptist Church.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's generation, bridging the two.A corporate lawyer, he grew up the son of a counselor and a social worker, steeped in Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church. He earned a political science degree at the…