A charged polymer jet may be accelerated and stretched by an external electric field, and this process is relevant to electrospinning for making nanofibers. The stretching of an electrified jet is governed by the interplay among electrostatics, fluid mechanics and rheology, and the role of viscoelasticity has not been systematically explored before. This paper presents a slender-body theory for the stretching of a straight charged jet of Giesekus fluid. Results show strain-hardening as the most influential rheological property. It causes the tensile force to rise at the start, which enhances stretching of the jet. Further downstream, however, the higher elongational viscosity tends to suppress jet stretching. In the end, strain-hardening leads to thicker fibers. This confirms the main result of a previous study using empirical rheological models. The behavior of the electrically driven jet forms an interesting contrast to that in conventional fiber spinning. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.