House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has plenty of reasons to sweat over next month's elections in some of America's safest Democratic seats.

Why it matters: A quirk of California politics means next month's general election will decide whether nearly half a dozen districts send back Democratic establishment incumbents or newcomers who could make life hell for party leaders.

• Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson, Doris Matsui and Jimmy Gomez face well-funded challenges from younger, less establishment-aligned Democrats.
• There are also several Northern California races that feature a pro-leadership Democrat facing off against a more left-leaning rival.

The big picture: Few Democrats think Jeffries will ultimately be denied the speakership. The fights that come after are more uncertain.

• The larger the bloc of Jeffries skeptics that arrives on Capitol Hill in January, the worse a time Democratic leadership will have.
• That could be tempered to a large degree by the size of Democrats' potential majority, but, as we've previously reported, many red-seat candidates are also maintaining their independence from leadership.
• Sought for comment on this story, Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, told us: "Stop wasting our time with your irrelevant stories that have nothing to do with taking back control of the House of Representatives."

Four races stand out from the leadership perspective:

1) CA-4: Thompson, a 75-year-old first elected in 1998, is facing a challenge from 35-year-old former venture capitalist Eric Jones.

• "I don't think anyone in Democratic leadership today is really doing their job well," Jones said in an interview with us.
• Asked if he would vote for Jeffries as speaker, Jones replied: "As of today, I wouldn't vote for any member."

2) CA-7: Matsui, 85, is seen as particularly vulnerable after finishing second to Mai Vang in the jungle primary election in June.

• Vang, a progressive Sacramento City Councilmember in her 40s, has positioned herself alongside a new bloc of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-aligned candidates.
• She previously signaled to us she won't vote for Jeffries as speaker, saying she "cannot support this kind of leadership" and that "we need new leadership and a new direction."

3) CA-11: The fight between state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been particularly bitter.

• Chan has positioned herself to the left of Wiener, a longtime progressive who has come under fire from the pro-Palestinian movement for being insufficiently critical of Israel.
• Wiener told Mission Local he looks "forward to electing Hakeem Jeffries speaker."
• Chan told the outlet that "any candidate for speaker, including Hakeem Jeffries, will have to earn my vote."

4) CA-34: Gomez has come under fire after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into him in August over allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

• He faces a challenge from Angela Gonzales-Torres, who — when asked in an interview with us if she would vote for Jeffries as speaker — said she looks forward to "supporting leaders who are not nearly funded by corporate super PACs."
• Gonzales-Torres, pointing to her support from DSA, said she considers herself part of the "national slate" of progressive insurgents.

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— Andrew Solender

Speaker Mike Johnson is racing around the country and raising record amounts of money to try to save the House GOP majority, even as he muses for the first time about life after Congress.

Why it matters: Johnson's comments mark a notable shift for a speaker who has spent months projecting confidence that Republicans can defy expectations.

• "Heaven forbid, if we lose this majority or whatever, I don't know what my next chapter of life is," Johnson told Fox News today.
• Johnson floated returning to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, to start a "lawn business."
• "I just want to be of my highest and best use ... to God and to my country," he said.

Driving the news: Johnson raised $30 million in the third quarter, bringing his total haul this cycle to $156 million. We scooped the number this morning.

• Johnson's team says that's the most raised by a Republican speaker or leader at this point in an election cycle.
• The speaker has distributed more than $91 million to Republican members, candidates, committees and state parties this cycle, according to figures first shared with us.
• That includes $46 million transferred to the National Republican Congressional Committee, putting him on pace to make the largest cycle transfer to the group by a Republican speaker or leader.

Zoom out: Johnson's fundraising operation has brought in more than $220 million for House Republicans since he became speaker in October 2023.

• That's a notable turnaround from when Johnson first took the gavel and Republicans worried whether the relatively unknown Louisiana Republican could replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's formidable fundraising operation.
• Johnson is also crisscrossing the country to help House Republicans, traveling to more than 40 districts across 22 states in the final stretch before Election Day, we previously reported.

What they're saying: "We are focused on getting unprecedented resources to the Districts that will decide the majority," Johnson said in a statement to us.

• "With this continued momentum, we are in place to defy history and defend the House to save America from the far-left!"

— Kate Santaliz