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

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — U.S. House 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. “That’s the mission. 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.

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-day 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. He earned a political science degree at the State University of New York at Binghamton and a master's in public policy at Georgetown and graduated magna cum laude at New York University School of Law.

At 29, he made his first run for office, an insurgent himself, eager to oust a longtime New York state Assembly member. He failed, twice. Eventually he won a statehouse seat. He ran for Congress, mounting a challenge to a 30-year incumbent who stepped aside.

Since then Jeffries has been on a steady rise, representing parts of the district once held by trailblazing Rep. Shirley Chisholm.

“Faith and the community were always a central part of my journey," he said.

He said that's the case for many of his generation, “who grew up in the midst, you know, of some challenging times — the crack cocaine epidemic, a lot of community violence. A lot of people’s lives were prematurely lost.”

“It leads to a desire to want to improve the quality of life for hardworking people, who could have fled difficult circumstances but remained in the community, worked hard to turn things around,” he said.

At the Toledo church, the area's long-serving Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur told the congregation that when she first ran for office, Chisholm was the only member of Congress to campaign for her. Now another from Brooklyn is ready to lead.

“This man wants to do something for the people of this country,” she said.

Jeffries never bought into the theory that voters gave Republicans a mandate in 2024 with control of the White House and Congress, leaving Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana with one of the smallest majorities in modern times.

He set about to win power back for Democrats.

Democrats used the tools available to force votes that GOP leadership tried to avoid — on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and halting the Iran war.

They voted against the GOP’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill, Jeffries delivering an eight-hour speech spotlighting cuts to Medicaid healthcare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.

At times, it seemed Jeffries, not Johnson, was in charge — including when Democrats shut down the government because Republicans refused to fund tax credits for the Affordable Care Act that millions of people relied on to buy health insurance.

Jeffries often sprinkles old-school hip hop lyrics into his speeches, and he said the music has been a soundtrack to life, as songs are for any generation.

“‘Sky’s the Limit’ is one of my favorite songs from The Notorious B.I.G.," he said, “because it really did track a journey from negativity to positivity and overcoming life’s adversity.”

Jeffries will be tested almost immediately if Democrats take control. The House speaker is elected when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.

He is facing a new generation of upstarts, including a handful of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Democrats are often a “party of nervous lawyers” at a time when voters are demanding change.

“To his credit,” he said about Jeffries, “in these key moments and opportunities where we've been able to take action, we’ve surprised people.”

Jeffries is described as a listener, who often jots down what colleagues say in meetings, a bottom-up style of leadership that works to build consensus. He said he has spoken to all the incoming Democrats. "Everybody’s got to chart their own path,” he said.

“On the other side of this election, I think what will unite House Democrats is the fact that we know things are broken in this country,” he said. "We've got to do something transformational about the affordability crisis.”

After the service, members of the congregation gathered in the church basement for a luncheon honoring the bishop's anniversary years of service, with steaming trays of chicken, greens, sweet potatoes and desserts.

Church member Lorna McKinstry, 74, a retired police dispatcher, said she was hopeful the country could begin to end its divisions.

“I want us to be a United States of America,” she said.

Jeffries visited over lunch before pushing on to the next stops, driven by a sense of purpose that the country can do better.

Those in Congress “have a responsibility to stop the madness from continuing to hurt everyday Americans," he said, "and chart a more hopeful path toward making this country the best version of herself.”

In this photo taken with a smartphone, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, standing with Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, join a church luncheon after Sunday services at the Worship Center of Toledo on Oct. 18, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

In this photo taken with a smartphone, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, with Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, talk with people at the Friendship Baptist Church, on Oct. 18, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

In this photo taken with a smartphone, Lorna McKinstry, a member of the Worship Center of Toledo, helps during a luncheon on Oct. 18, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

In this photo taken with a smartphone, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, standing with Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, listens from the pew at the Worship Center of Toledo on Oct. 18, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio. (AP Photo/Lisa Mascaro)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, should keep running a controversial ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton, posting on social media that it was “hitting pay dirt.”

Trump also denounced Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who criticized the ad as “deeply, deeply troubling” earlier in the day. Acton previously served in DeWine's administration as a health official. Her mother lost custody of Acton and her brother after her husband — the children's stepfather — was indicted for raping Acton.

“He strongly suggested that Vivek should, ‘take down the Ad,’” Trump wrote. “He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing. I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!”

At a gathering with reporters at the Ohio Statehouse, DeWine recalled the painful experiences of rape victims he dealt with as a county prosecutor and state attorney general.

“It's wrong to run this ad,” he said. “And, even at this late time — my wife, Fran, saw the ad just run this morning on TV — I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”

The term-limited DeWine’s remarks place him at odds with Ramaswamy, whom he has endorsed. The biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate plans to spend $4 million to broadcast it online and on television.

But the governor stopped short of pulling his backing of the Republican for now. DeWine recalled a previous line of attack by the Acton campaign had mentioned Ramaswamy's mother and said that also was wrong — “family members have always historically been off limits” — though he noted it was never used in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign.

That critique from the summer cited an investigative report into Geetha Ramaswamy's role at a pharmaceutical company run by her son, who Acton and Democrats described as “hiring his own mother to manipulate clinical trial data.”

The Ramaswamy campaign called those claims “slanderous” and said he's being held to a different standard than Acton and other Democrats who have attacked Republicans' families.

“Governor DeWine is correct that the first and only candidate to attack the mother of her opponent in this race was Amy Acton,” spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement, adding, "We refuse to accept the media's double standards.”

By chiming in, DeWine has entered the fray of a growing rift among Ohio Republicans over the advertisement — as both the governor's race and a race for U.S. Senate appear far tighter than expected in a state Donald Trump won handily three times. The video features Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, calling her “a liar” and insinuating she has mental health issues.

Acton, Ohio’s COVID-19-era health director, has made no secret of facing homelessness and abuse as a child. Arthur lost custody of her children after their stepfather, Arthur's husband, was indicted on a charge of rape involving Acton. Acton's campaign on Tuesday posted a video of her brother, who supported her backstory about living in a tent and being abused.

Republican Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio native son, expressed disgust during an Ohio campaign swing Wednesday with Republicans “whining” about the ad as low and in poor taste. But Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, DeWine's former lieutenant governor — running in a tight retention race against Democrat Sherrod Brown — has said he would not have run the ad, as has Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for state auditor.

Another influential Ohio Republican, former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, posted a lengthy essay on X overnight, suggesting that “the floor may have just fallen out from under the Republican campaign for Ohio Governor” and urging every Republican to distance themselves from it.

Amid the turmoil, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou posted what sounded like a warning, or a threat.

“The final days of a tough campaign are always the best time to find out who is really with you and who just posts and pretends,” he wrote. “Yes—we are keeping score.” The quote was followed by a winking-eye emoji.

The ad is also dividing Republicans nationally.

Nikki Haley, who sparred with Ramaswamy during the 2024 Republican presidential primary over the personal nature of his attacks, called him “a bad guy” in a social media post Tuesday. “It’s a shame he continues to get away with it,” she wrote.

At the same time, Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group, has reported that many within the national conservative media are promoting and praising the ad. Ramaswamy's campaign manager, Jonathan Ewing, characterized it as “a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton.”

Wayne Allyn Root, of Gateway Pundit, called it “absolutely hilarious” and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles described it as “brilliant.”

Police and court records show Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with the rape of Acton in July 1978, when she was 12, after her biological father lodged a formal complaint against him. The abuse allegedly happened from December 1976 to April 1978. Cledith Arthur failed to show for a court appearance and became a fugitive.

Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death in 2004.

FILE - Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, speaks at an event at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting, Feb. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)

President Donald Trump listens as gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign rally at the Covelli Centre, in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)