Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, represents New York’s 8th congressional district, a seat located entirely within the borough of Brooklyn. Understanding the shape and makeup of this district requires looking both at its current boundaries and at how significantly those boundaries have changed over the past decade.
The district Jeffries represents today looks quite different on the map from the one he first won in 2012. From 1993 through 2013, New York’s 8th district covered much of the west side of Manhattan along with western coastal sections of Brooklyn. Following the redistricting process that took effect after the 2010 census, the district was substantially redrawn, shifting entirely into Brooklyn and absorbing much of the territory that had previously belonged to the old 10th congressional district.
That redrawn map is the one Jeffries has represented since taking office in January 2013. The district now includes several of central and eastern Brooklyn’s historically significant neighborhoods, among them Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Canarsie, East New York, Ocean Hill, and Spring Creek. These communities make up a district with a majority African American and Caribbean American population, giving NY-08 one of the more distinctive demographic profiles among New York’s congressional seats.
According to recent Census Bureau estimates, the district is home to roughly 739,000 to 759,000 residents, figures that shift slightly depending on which population survey is used. Demographically, the district is approximately 42 percent Black, 27 percent white, 16 percent Hispanic, and 9 percent Asian, reflecting the broader diversity of central Brooklyn. Median household income in the district trails the national figure by a meaningful margin, and homeownership rates are notably lower than the national average, consistent with the dense, largely renter-occupied housing stock found throughout much of the borough.
Politically, NY-08 is one of the most reliably Democratic districts in the country. The Cook Partisan Voting Index rates the district at D+24, a figure that places it far to the left of the national average and makes general election competition largely irrelevant to the outcome. In practice, this means the real contest for the seat, when there is one, tends to play out in the Democratic primary rather than in the November general election.
Jeffries first won the seat in 2012, defeating New York City Councilman Charles Barron in a competitive primary after longtime incumbent Edolphus Towns announced his retirement. He has held the seat in every election since, and his role within House Democratic leadership has grown substantially over that time, culminating in his selection as House Minority Leader after Nancy Pelosi stepped back from that position.
New York’s congressional map underwent another significant round of changes during the 2022 redistricting cycle, a process that reshaped several districts across the state following prolonged legal disputes between the legislature, the governor, and the courts. While the 8th district’s core Brooklyn footprint remained largely intact through that process compared to some of New York’s more heavily altered seats, readers should be aware that any given year’s precise boundary lines are worth double-checking against the current official map, since New York has revisited its congressional districts more than once in recent redistricting cycles.
For residents trying to determine whether they fall within NY-08, the most reliable method is checking an address directly against the official House of Representatives district lookup tool or the Census Bureau’s published district maps, both of which reflect the most current boundaries in use for the present congressional term. Jeffries is next up for reelection in 2026, and given the partisan lean of the district, any competitive dynamic in that race is far more likely to emerge from a Democratic primary challenge than from the general election itself.
