Chris Van Hollen launches challenge to Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced on Thursday, 12 November 2026, that he will challenge Senator Chuck Schumer of New York for Senate majority leader. The contest is for the top post in an enlarged Democratic majority.

Van Hollen made the announcement in an interview on MS NOW’s “The Briefing with Jen Psaki”. It came just over a week after Democrats’ sweeping victories in the midterm elections.

“I am planning to run for the Senate majority leader, and let me tell you why,” Van Hollen told Psaki. “This is not about any one individual, but it is about answering the call of the American people.”

Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, responded that he has the votes to stay on. According to CNN, the closed-ballot leadership election is scheduled for Tuesday, 1 December 2026.

A call for new leadership

Van Hollen described his bid as a response to what he called a “huge outburst of democracy” on Election Day across red, blue and purple states.

He said the result was not only a rejection of President Donald Trump. It was also “a call for a larger change to take on a broken economic system that’s rigged in favor of the very wealthy against working people”, he said.

Voters, he said, sent a message to “reject the status quo and to reject business as usual”. “And to do that, I think we need new leadership,” he added.

Days earlier, Van Hollen had told CNN that seeking the job was “not my focus”. He now cited “a generational opportunity” for the Senate to respond to voters.

“The scale and scope of this victory — 56 Senate Democratic seats — really gives us a mandate and the votes to do big things,” he said.

According to MS NOW, that figure includes Alaska. The Senate race there has not been called, but Democrat Mary Peltola holds a slight edge.

Van Hollen cautioned that while voters “have rejected the Trump policies, they’ve not yet hired Democrats”. “They’ve given us a chance, we have to earn their trust,” he said, adding that “you can’t earn that trust with old leadership”.

An acknowledged underdog

Van Hollen conceded the steep climb. “Am I the underdog? Yes,” he said. “You’re talking about an incumbent who uses the power of incumbency to, you know, provide deals to people.”

MS NOW reported that winning requires a majority of the caucus, roughly 28 or 29 senators. Schumer’s aides told The New York Times that he believes he already has the commitments he needs.

Van Hollen said he had “more than 10” commitments. He expressed confidence that his support could grow now that colleagues know he is running.

“I’ve talked to almost every member now, or at least tried to reach them, and I’ve gotten feedback from members of the caucus and my view is this is very much in flux,” he said.

Schumer says he has the votes

Schumer, 75, said on X that he welcomes “any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead”.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together — 55 seats and counting is an amazing result — and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” he wrote.

As he left the Capitol on Thursday, Schumer at first ignored an MS NOW question about how he would fare against Van Hollen. As he got into his car, he leaned back out and said: “I’m confident of winning the leadership contest.”

Endorsements on both sides

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, endorsed Van Hollen on Thursday. He wrote that “the American people voted for change” and want a party that will “take on the billionaire class”.

Two days earlier, Sanders announced that he would not back Schumer. He was joined by Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a moderate, who said she was “seeking change”.

“Whoever wants my vote is going to have to show me a concrete plan that’s definitively different,” Slotkin said. “I’m a no until and unless I see that from anyone.”

According to CNN, Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan quickly offered his support. He had suggested for weeks that he could back Van Hollen.

El-Sayed told NPR that Van Hollen is “willing to take risks when it matters”. He pointed to Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador to meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

CNN reported that four other incoming senators have also repeated their calls for a new leader. They are Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine, Annie Andrews of South Carolina and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota.

“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,” Hamilton told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Schumer has his own backers. Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent, said Schumer has “unique mastery of the Senate process”. Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada also endorsed him on Thursday.

“When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give him another contract,” Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona said on Tuesday. “At the end of the day, these are historic numbers. It’s time for us to unify.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). She credited Schumer’s “strategic leadership”. “We are about to win nine Senate seats — that has never happened in my political history,” she said.

Van Hollen disputed that argument. He said the result “wasn’t orchestrated from Washington, D.C., or the DSCC — it was a people-powered movement”. “That’s why we won in places like South Carolina. That’s why we won in Mississippi,” he said.

Mississippi Senator-elect Scott Colom told MS NOW it was not accurate to say Schumer recruited him. Asked whether he would back Schumer, he replied: “I don’t know my options. What are my options?”

Where the two senators differ

MS NOW reported that Van Hollen did not draw a sharp policy contrast with Schumer. The clearest difference was on primaries. Van Hollen said the caucus leader should not endorse candidates in open-seat primaries.

“We shouldn’t have a Democratic leader who is getting involved in picking sides in open Democratic primaries,” he said. He added that El-Sayed and Flanagan would not be in the Senate “if the current majority leader had his way”.

At a post-election Democratic conference on Tuesday, Van Hollen said Schumer and the DSCC had sided against these candidates. He said they took the side of the crypto industry and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

According to CNN, Van Hollen was the first Democratic senator to endorse El-Sayed in the Michigan primary. El-Sayed defeated Representative Haley Stevens, who had Schumer’s quiet backing. Schumer supported El-Sayed after the primary.

Van Hollen also promised to use the “full power” of the Senate to respond to voters’ wish to end the Iran war and lower the cost of living.

According to CBS News, he suggested Schumer had not taken a firm enough stance on using the power of the purse to force the Trump administration to end the war.

He said Democrats should use the government funding deadline on Friday, 11 December 2026, as leverage. He added that it “should not be a finger-in-the-wind issue”.

Beyond that, he kept his distance from some progressive priorities. Of Medicare for All, he said: “I don’t see us getting there all at once.” He also steered away from calls to impeach Trump.

Background of the contenders

Van Hollen, 67, entered the Senate in 2017, the same year Schumer became leader. Before that, he served 14 years in the House of Representatives.

According to CNN, he has served as House Democratic assistant to the leader and chaired both chambers’ Democratic campaign arms. MS NOW noted that he has never held one of the top three posts in either chamber.

His profile has grown over the past two years. CNN reported that he has accused the Israeli government of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “wanted war criminal”.

Last year, he also travelled to El Salvador to meet Abrego Garcia. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national living in Maryland who had been mistakenly deported and held in the country’s CECOT prison.

Van Hollen had said he was “kicking the tires” on a 2028 presidential bid. “I now believe that we can collectively make the biggest difference by responding to this huge opportunity,” he told Psaki.

Schumer succeeded retiring Senator Harry Reid of Nevada as leader in 2017. He has held a party leadership position for more than three decades. According to MS NOW, he recruited many of this cycle’s successful candidates.

His time as leader has been turbulent. In early 2025, he manoeuvred to avoid a government shutdown, which frustrated the party’s left. Later that year, he kept Democrats largely united through a record-breaking shutdown over health insurance tax credits.

CNN reported that Schumer could face a 2028 primary challenge, possibly from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Despite an unfavourable Senate map, Democrats flipped at least eight seats. They will hold at least 55 seats when Congress convenes in January. CBS News reported that Schumer is still widely expected to keep the top post.