Hakeem Jeffries Often Commands the House Floor — Who Does He Spend Time With in His Own House?

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is an impressive figure with a resume that includes multiple degrees from first-rate universities, clerking for a judge at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and serving three terms in the New York State Assembly. All of that was accomplished by the time he was 32 years old. Not a lot of people find what they love at such a young age, but Rep. Jeffries was always a man with a plan.

"It was a natural progression for me to enter public service," Rep. Jeffries told The New York Times in July 2012, right before he was elected to serve the Eighth Congressional District of New York the first time. He has since been reelected six more times. While his political career is impressive, Rep. Jeffries has a home life that rivals his time in the House. Is he married? Here's what we know.

According to The New York Times, when Rep. Jeffries started college, he was on the receiving end of quite a culture shock. He got his undergraduate degree from Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y., which is a small, predominantly white city. "There was racism," he recalled. "You’d walk around in the town, and someone could say something to you freely that you didn't ask for." Despite that, he acclimated quickly and soon fell in love with Kennisandra Arciniegas, his future wife.

Rep. Jeffries graduated from Binghamton in 1992 and five years later, he and Kennisandra got married. Like her politically-minded husband, who focused on changing the world and making it better, Kennisandra worked to help others. She became a social worker and is currently at the 1199SEIU Family of Funds, which is "among the strongest and largest labor-management funds in the nation, providing a range of comprehensive benefits to more than 450,000 working and retired healthcare industry workers."

Rep. Jeffries was born in 1970 in Brooklyn, right after Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, per The New York Times. Growing up in the 1980s in Brooklyn was an incredible time for Black culture. It was also the epicenter of the crack epidemic, but Rep. Jeffries was anchored by his parents. Like his wife, Rep. Jeffries's mother was a social worker. His father was a substance abuse counselor who once unsuccessfully ran for State Assembly.

When it came time to name their first son, Rep. Jeffries's parents landed on Hakeem Sekou, which translates to wisdom. "Whatever you’re going to be, you’re going to be beyond a master’s degree," said his father. The Jeffries family attended a local Baptist church, where Rep. Jeffries was an usher. He learned how to problem-solve from his parents and always knew that he wanted to be a lawmaker, going beyond his master's degree.