House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to step down at the end of this Congress after nearly two decades in Democratic leadership, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is the new favourite to lead the party.

While Jeffries chair of the House Democratic Caucus, is the favourite, the debate over who will succeed Pelosi, could lay to bare the deep divide between progressives and moderates.

Future leaders of the party could differ in their ideas for how to counter the GOP, as they brace for the possibility of serious losses in the midterm elections.

While interviews with more than two dozen Democrats made clear that Pelosi maintains the respect of those she leads, many members expressed a desire to move beyond the octogenarian leadership comprised of Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Md., and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, S.C.