House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has always been a tireless advocate for justice. He first learned about the value of helping others from his mother, a social worker, and his father, a substance abuse counselor. After serving as a clerk for a US district court judge and as a litigator, Leader Jeffries decided to make the transition to public office to continue advocating on behalf of his community in a different way. He spent six years in the New York State Assembly before running for Congress in 2012—where he has fought every day to keep his constituents safe from senseless gun violence. 

In Congress, Leader Jeffries has long been an outspoken voice for commonsense solutions and has risen through the ranks of his caucus to become the top Democratic voice in the US House. In office, he’s been a key champion in the push to expand background checks to all gun sales and strengthen safe storage laws across the country. He’s also tirelessly advocated to stop the flow of illegally trafficked guns into Brooklyn and to allocate federal dollars to research gun violence as a public health issue.

Leader Jeffries understands that gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color, and he knows that addressing this epidemic will require investing in historically underserved neighborhoods—which is why as a founder of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Caucus, he has been a longtime proponent for providing lifesaving funding to community violence intervention programs. As a uniting force in the House, Leader Jeffries also played an important role in bringing members on both sides of the aisle together to make history in 2022 by passing the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety legislation signed into law in nearly 30 years in response to the devastating mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Since Donald Trump took office, Leader Jeffries has been unparalleled in his efforts to safeguard everyday Americans from harm and protect our nation’s gun laws from executive overreach and dangerous attempts to roll back progress. With so much on the line, we must do everything in our power to ensure that champions across the country reestablish a gun safety majority this fall and make Leader Hakeem Jeffries the next speaker of the House. We know that his skills as a legislator will be crucial in advancing lifesaving reforms, and we are confident he will help build a future free from gun violence.

We are proud to endorse Hakeem Jeffries for the US House of Representatives.