Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a son of Brooklyn, is expected to be elected Wednesday as the leader of the House Democrats, less than a decade after the former state lawmaker first arrived on Capitol Hill.
The meteoric rise of the hip-hop-loving Jeffries has put him on the cusp of becoming the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in either chamber of Congress. And if the Democratic caucus chooses Jeffries as expected, it would concentrate immense political power in Brooklyn.
Jeffries, a 52-year-old product of city public schools, was raised in Crown Heights and now lives in Prospect Heights, less than a mile from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Park Slope Democrat.
