Hakeem Jeffries is being called “bought and paid for” by singer Eric Benét, but the viral petition trying to stop Jeffries from becoming Speaker of the House carries a paid label of its own. Change.org’s page for the petition says its creator, Nicole Whitted, “is a Change Ambassador who receives compensation in connection with this petition,” and marks it as a paid partnership. The page does not say who is paying her or how much.
The petition, titled “House Democrats: Choose a New Speaker,” asks every Democrat in the incoming Congress to vote against Jeffries in January 2027 and pick someone else. As of Friday it showed more than 819,000 verified signatures. If Jeffries wins that vote, he will become the first Black Speaker of the House, the only leadership job in Congress written into the Constitution and second in line to the presidency.
Whitted launched the petition on Sept. 3, two months before anyone cast a ballot in the midterms and long before Democrats knew they would win the House. For most of that time it barely moved. On Wednesday, the day after the election, Whitted said in a video that it had almost 20,000 signatures. By Thursday it had passed 500,000, and by Friday it had passed 800,000. Newsweek describes Whitted as an author and social media creator with more than 210,000 followers on TikTok.
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The surge came with celebrity help. Mark Ruffalo shared the petition with his followers and wrote, “Sign this petition if you want a new speaker of the house.” Benét posted a video of himself singing from his car that Jeffries is “bought and paid for” and that “he can’t be the speaker on the new House floor.”
Some of the criticism of Jeffries is about real policy. A separate petition launched Nov. 4, after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee congratulated Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on their party’s wins, says no one “beholden to AIPAC and/or Israel” should lead either chamber. AIPAC is the most powerful pro Israel lobbying group in Washington, and Jeffries’ support from it and his record on Israel’s war in Gaza are a long running complaint from the left. Whitted told Newsweek her opposition goes beyond any one policy and pointed to Jeffries’ reported meeting with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son in law.
A few incoming House members have joined the push. Melat Kiros, a democratic socialist who will represent Denver, has offered the clearest opposition, criticizing Jeffries over money from corporate political action committees and AIPAC. Chris Rabb of Philadelphia said Jeffries “supported a lot of the folks who my endorsees beat.” Both were backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
The left is not lined up as one on this. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the most prominent democratic socialist in the country, has acknowledged deep policy differences with Jeffries but has backed his bid to lead House Democrats. “I continue to support Congressman Jeffries and his bid to become the leader,” Mamdani said in August.
Jeffries formally announced his run for Speaker on Wednesday in a letter to his colleagues, promising “dramatic change” as the 57th Speaker of the House. The full House will vote when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2027, and Jeffries needs a majority of the members present to win.
The petition says the Speaker should “represent the Democratic voters, not just the Democratic establishment.” The voters who delivered this majority included Black voters who turned out across the South in numbers that redrew the map on Tuesday, and Jeffries is the first Black leader in position to hold the gavel. Over 800,000 people signed a paid petition to stop him. The Black voters who powered the wave were never asked.
