Van Hollen Inches Closer Toward Challenging Schumer for Majority Leader Position

Senator Chris Van Hollen, after long denying he would seek to oust Senator Chuck Schumer as the Senate’s top Democrat, now appears to be inching toward a run. Mr. Van Hollen told reporters on Monday evening that he is being encouraged by “thousands” of people to take on Mr. Schumer. Mr. Schumer has served as leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017, including a four-year stint as minority leader from 2021 through 2025. Now, after recruiting strong candidates, raising millions for the campaigns, and strategically deploying his resources, Mr. Schumer is hoping he can get another crack at the majority leader position for at least the next two years. Some Democrats believe he is too far to the center and not capable of adequately battling President Trump, however. Mr. Van Hollen, a second-term lawmaker, won praise from progressives last year after traveling to El Salvador to meet with a constituent, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been deported from the United States. Mr. Van Hollen told reporters on Monday evening that he was now thinking of running for majority leader — a reversal from his past position. The Maryland senator had long said that he was “kicking the tires” on a 2028 White House run rather than a campaign for Democratic Caucus leader. “I am listening to the thousands of people who have been calling for change, but especially listening to our members with a particular ear to new members who just came off the campaign trail,” Mr. Van Hollen told reporters. “What I’ve said from the very beginning is: We shouldn’t have a coronation, we should have a caucus discussion.”“In response to people calling upon me to step up here, what I’ve said on this that I’m listening … and haven’t shut the door,” he said. Mr. Van Hollen declined to say which other Democratic senators have urged him to challenge Mr. Schumer. Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed on the trail said explicitly that he wants Mr. Van Hollen to take over for Mr. Schumer. “I’ve been very clear: I think he’d be an amazing Senate majority leader,” Dr. El-Sayed told CNN on Thursday. “Of course, that’s a choice he has to make about whether or not he wants to pursue that.” Senator Elissa Slotkin told reporters on Monday that the American people have sent a message that there should be a “new generation” of leaders, and that anyone who wants her vote for majority leader must lay out a plan for the first 100 days of a new Senate Democratic majority. “I’m not voting for anyone that doesn’t lay out that plan and I feel strongly about it,” she said. Mr. Schumer is especially unpopular with the Democratic Party’s base of voters, according to polls taken over the course of the last 18 months. One poll from the New York Times and Siena University earlier this year found that Mr. Schumer’s favorable rating was 18 points underwater among those who were planning to cast a ballot for a Democratic Senate candidate in November. Just 19 percent of those voters had a favorable view of Mr. Schumer. One Change.org petition calling on Senate Democrats to replace Mr. Schumer has already garnered more than 100,000 signatures. Another petition had nearly 200,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning. Leadership elections have not yet been scheduled for Senate Democrats, though they are expected to be held later this month or in early December. If Democrats do end up winning the Alaska and Mississippi Senate races, then Mr. Schumer will need 29 votes in order to remain as leader of the Democratic Caucus. Several senators-elect, including Dr. El-Sayed, Troy Jackson of Maine, Julianna Stratton of Illinois, and Adam Hamilton of Kansas have all said that they will vote for someone other than Mr. Schumer.

Van Hollen Inches Closer Toward Challenging Schumer for Majority Leader Position

Van Hollen Inches Closer Toward Challenging Schumer for Majority Leader Position

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