The creator of the viral Hakeem Jeffries petition could earn more than $500,000 from Change.org, according to a California Post report published Monday, though how much she has actually been paid has not been made public.
The petition, titled “House Democrats: CHOOSE A NEW SPEAKER,” was started in September by Nicole Whitted, an author and TikTok creator with more than 210,000 followers. It calls on every member of the incoming 120th Congress to vote against Jeffries for speaker in January 2027 and choose someone else. The speaker of the House is the top leader of the chamber, second in line to the presidency after the vice president, and is elected by the full House when a new Congress begins.
As recently as Wednesday, the day after the midterm elections handed Democrats control of the House, the petition had roughly 20,000 signatures. Then the Hakeem Jeffries petition exploded. Mark Ruffalo shared it with his followers that same day, writing, “Sign this petition if you want a new speaker of the house.” By Thursday night it had more than 762,000 verified signatures. By Friday afternoon it topped 921,000, and by Monday it had passed 1 million.
The petition page itself is upfront about the money. Change.org labels it a paid partnership and states that Whitted “is a Change Ambassador who receives compensation in connection with this petition.” Change Ambassadors are creators the platform pays to launch and promote petitions. Change.org has not disclosed the terms of Whitted’s deal.
The $500,000 figure is an estimate, not a receipt. Political commentator Morgan J. Freeman, who backs Jeffries, cited advertised rates of 30 to 50 cents per signature for Change.org’s ambassador program, which would add up to between $300,000 and $500,000 across 1 million signatures. Freeman also pointed out that those numbers reflect potential platform revenue, not verified payments to Whitted. Neither Whitted nor Change.org has said what she has earned from the Hakeem Jeffries petition.
Whitted has been blunt about why she started it. In a TikTok video, she said with an expletive that Jeffries should not be speaker. She pointed to an August meeting between Jeffries and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son in law, and to Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens publicly calling Jeffries “our next speaker of the House.” Whitted told Newsweek her opposition goes beyond any one policy fight, citing what she described as Jeffries’ longstanding financial ties to corporate interests and powerful lobbying groups that support Israel. Jeffries has faced mounting criticism from progressives over money he has accepted from corporate PACs and from AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The pressure is landing on Capitol Hill. Axios reported that House Democrats are being flooded with calls and emails urging them to deny Jeffries the gavel. One incoming Democrat said their office fielded about 150 calls, while a senior House Democrat reported more than 500 in two days. “It’s our No. 1 issue, and it’s not close,” a third member told Axios. The outlet also reported that Whitted’s paid arrangement has raised eyebrows among lawmakers. Even so, members told Axios that Jeffries’ path to becoming speaker remains clear.
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The stakes are historic. NBC News projects Democrats will hold at least 258 House seats, their largest majority since 1993. If Jeffries wins the vote in January, he will become the first Black speaker of the House. The Hakeem Jeffries petition carries no legal weight in that vote. Only members of the House decide who holds the gavel.
