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By Steve Mollman
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Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is facing a potentially serious challenge to his hold on power as momentum builds behind Chris Van Hollen, with the Maryland senator now reportedly open to a run for majority leader.
A movement to draft Van Hollen to challenge Schumer is gaining steam, according to Politico Playbook, which reported Monday that two people close to the effort said it was underway.
Why Chuck Schumer Is Facing a Democratic Leadership Challenge?
The latest development comes despite Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories, which handed the party control of the Senate and would elevate Schumer from minority leader to majority leader if he retains the support of his caucus.
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Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, has publicly expressed confidence that he has enough votes to remain leader.
But resistance among Democrats has persisted even after the party’s strong election showing.
Who Is Pushing to Get Schumer Replaced?
Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the progressive group Indivisible, is among those pushing the effort and was in contact with Van Hollen as recently as Sunday, Politico reported.
“He has not sought the position, but he has also not closed the door to the position,” Levin told Politico. “And I think if there is sufficient public demand, that not only would he possibly get in the race, but I think he could win.”
A person familiar with Van Hollen’s thinking told the outlet that the senator has “received an outpouring of calls and is now in active listening mode.”
“The door is not shut,” the person said.
That marks a notable shift after Van Hollen said in a live interview with FOX 5 DC last week that he was “not looking to be the next Democratic leader” and was instead “kicking the tires” on a potential 2028 presidential campaign. During the same interview, he declined to endorse Schumer, saying the choice of the next Democratic leader “should not be automatic.”
Newsweek has contacted the offices of Schumer, Van Hollen and Levin for comment.
Several incoming Democratic senators have either said they will not support Schumer or called for a generational change in leadership, while some sitting senators have stopped short of endorsing him.
Van Hollen and Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin both declined to back Schumer during a post-election gathering in Washington on Saturday. “There should be no coronation of the next Democratic leader,” Van Hollen said, according to CNN.
“I’ve said very clearly that we need to have a discussion in the Democratic caucus, we need to understand what the Democrats are going to do with this new responsibility and these new powers, and nobody should get a blank check without a full understanding of the caucus as to where we’re going to go."
Van Hollen has also argued that Democrats need a “bold kitchen table agenda” rather than incremental changes, saying last week that “working people have been screwed for way too long.”
Chris Van Hollen Gains Support as Alternative to Schumer
Van Hollen already has an advocate inside the incoming Democratic caucus.
Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed has repeatedly said he would support the Maryland Democrat for majority leader.
“I’ve been very clear: I think he’d be an amazing Senate majority leader,” El-Sayed told CNN last week, while acknowledging that Van Hollen would first have to decide whether he wanted the job.
El-Sayed had telegraphed that preference months earlier, introducing Van Hollen at a July campaign event as the “next Senate majority leader.”
Van Hollen has also increasingly positioned himself in debates over the Democratic Party’s direction. In August, he told NBC News’ Meet the Press that Democratic Socialists of America members have a place in the party and argued that Democrats should embrace ideological debate. “Voters, including Democratic voters, they don’t want to simply return to the pre-Trump status quo,” he said. “They want Democrats who are going to stand for something.”
The revolt is broader than support for any one alternative.
Senators-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota are among the incoming Democrats who have expressed opposition to another term for Schumer or called for new leadership. Hamilton told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union on Sunday: “I think whether it’s fair or not, Chuck Schumer is seen as a more divisive figure by many people, and I think we need somebody who’s going to bring us together.”
Indivisible has separately called for Senate Democrats to replace Schumer following the midterms. The progressive organization said voters had demanded “a new generation of Democratic fighters” and called for a public process to select new leadership.
The effort adds to pressure generated by petitions calling for Schumer’s replacement, which had amassed more than 100,000 signatures by Thursday.
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Could Chris Van Hollen Beat Chuck Schumer?
Schumer nevertheless enters any leadership contest with substantial advantages.
Unlike the election of the House speaker, the Senate Democratic leadership contest is an internal party vote. Schumer only needs the support of a majority of the Democratic caucus, and no opponent has formally entered the race.
He also has years of relationships with Democratic senators and can point to the party’s unexpectedly strong Senate performance in the midterms.
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona said at the post-election gathering Saturday that he planned to support Schumer, while acknowledging that Senate Democrats needed “to do things differently than we’ve done before,” according to CNN. Schumer remains the heavy favorite without a declared challenger.
But Van Hollen would bring significant experience to a contest if he decides to enter. He previously chaired both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, giving him experience with the political and fundraising operations of both congressional chambers.
His potential candidacy would also turn what has so far been a diffuse rebellion against Schumer into a direct leadership contest.
That possibility appeared remote only days ago, when Van Hollen said he was considering a presidential campaign rather than seeking the Senate leadership.
The disclosure Monday that he is now in “active listening mode” means Democrats dissatisfied with Schumer may finally have what they previously lacked: a potential candidate around whom to organize.
Newsweek reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas
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