Rep.-elect Don Leonard (D-Ohio) hasn’t been sworn in yet, but he’s making a name for himself on Capitol Hill as one of the most outspoken anti-establishment progressives in the incoming freshman class.

Why it matters: That’s an unlikely position for a Democrat who represents a rural Ohio district that President Trump carried by 10 percentage points in 2024.

---

• Leonard is archetypal of a burgeoning breed of swing-district House Democrats — populist in style, receptive to left-wing policies and unbound by traditional political norms — that will be well-represented in the 120th Congress.
• “I’m really vibing with my class,” he told Axios in a Tuesday interview on Capitol Hill. “These are everyday citizens who heard the same call I heard and stood up.”

State of play: Leonard, a professor of city planning who defeated Republican Rep. Mike Carey in last Tuesday’s midterm elections, was turning heads on Capitol Hill before he even arrived for freshman orientation on Sunday.

• He told his local CBS affiliate the day after the election he will “be shopping for a new leader” unless House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) changes his pro-Israel positions.
• He made an even bigger splash on Tuesday with a video he posted to social media saying he met with “senior members” who warned him his life would be a “living hell” and that he would lose reelection if he opposes Jeffries for speaker of the House.

The other side: House Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), asked about Leonard’s video at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, told reporters, “I don’t know what senior Democrats he’s talking about.”

• “I think all of us here can attest to the work, the time, the energy that Hakeem Jeffries put into helping us build this majority,” Aguilar said.
• Aguilar predicted Jeffries will be “overwhelmingly selected” as speaker and that he doesn’t “lose any sleep over that.”
• “Members could have ideas and interests and they could have asks along the way, but the outcome is not in question,” he added.

What they’re saying: Leonard, in his interview with Axios later on Tuesday afternoon, characterized the conversation described in his video as a “friendly” and “well-intentioned” talk with “folks who have been on the Hill for a really long time.”

• “They let me know that while we all agree on a lot of this stuff … the leader is going to pursue his message and agenda as he sees fit, and [said], ‘Don’t be insane. How could you possibly stand in the way?'”
• In addition to cutting U.S. aid for Israel, Leonard said he wants Jeffries to commit to supporting a Constitutional amendment to ban super PACs.
• “The time for half-measures is over,” he told Axios. “I hear people, even members of the Progressive Caucus, talking about, ‘Maybe we just tax super PACs.’ Y’all, we need a 28th Amendment.”

Between the lines: Leonard said he has also found himself irked by House Democrats’ seniority system, which makes it difficult for freshman members to get onto some of the most coveted committees.

• “I’m just a little confused and frustrated right now by why the Democratic caucus is so hierarchical when it comes to these committees,” he told Axios.
• Leonard added: “When we’re less democratic than the Republican Party … that raises questions for me.”

What’s next: The Ohio Democrat said he got a chance to meet Jeffries for the first time on Tuesday and arrange for their staffers to work out a time to sit down and talk.

• “I shook his and and I asked him for six minutes,” he said, telling Axios he wants to “look him in the eye, let him know that [I] respect his capacity as a leader … but I need something to take back to my district that shows that my party understands the magnitude of the crisis we face.”
• “I’m going to hope that I can persuade him in the six minutes that we don’t have to cross that bridge, but my constituents aren’t bluffing and neither am I.”