"More than a dozen House Democrats - including Jeffries' top two lieutenants - had called for Kiggans to resign as of Tuesday afternoon, with others vowing to unseat her in November either way. Kiggans said in a post on X: "The radio host should not have used that language and I do not -and did not - condone it. It was obvious to anyone listening that I was agreeing Hakeem Jefferies [sic] should stay out of Virginia.""
"Driving the news: The controversy rests on a Monday interview Kiggans did with Richmond-based radio host Rich Herrera on Democrats' thwarted effort to redistrict Virginia's congressional map in their favor. Said Herrera: "If Hakeem Jeffries wants to be involved in Virginia politics, then I suggest he ... leave New York, move down here to Virginia, run for office down here, you can represent us. If not, get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia." "That's right. Ditto. Yes. Yes, to that," Kiggans replied."
"State of play: Jeffries' No. 2 and No. 3 in Democratic leadership, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and House Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), both called for Kiggans to step down on Monday night. They were joined by the Congressional Black Caucus and Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Black Caucus PAC, who told Axios he agreed with Clark that Kiggans should step down."
"Other lawmakers calling for Kiggans' resignation included Reps. Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Sydney Kamlager- Dove (D-Calif.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and Chuy García (D-Ill.). House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Tuesday: "Sometimes people misspeak. ... I'll talk to her about it, but you should not be evaluating the character of Jen Kiggans based on some comment that supposedly she said.""
More than a dozen House Democrats, including Democratic leadership figures, called for Jen Kiggans to resign after a Monday radio interview with Rich Herrera. Herrera suggested that if Hakeem Jeffries wanted involvement in Virginia politics, he should move to Virginia and run there, otherwise he should keep out of Virginia. Kiggans responded with agreement, saying “That’s right. Ditto. Yes. Yes, to that.” Kiggans later said she did not condone Herrera’s language and claimed it was obvious she was agreeing that Jeffries should stay out of Virginia. House Speaker Mike Johnson said people may have misspoken and urged against judging Kiggans’ character based on the comment. Democratic leaders and additional members, including the Congressional Black Caucus, called for Kiggans to step down and some vowed to challenge her in November.
Read at Axios
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