Van Hollen Makes It Official: He's Challenging Schumer for Dem Leader
It turns out the old media cliché still is true, surprisingly — the Dems are in disarray.
On Thursday evening, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen made it official: He’s challenging longtime Senate Democrat leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York to become the next Senate majority leader, despite the fact Schumer’s Democrats beat expectations handily in the blue wave.
“In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption,” Van Hollen said in a statement on X.
“To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn’t about any one person — it’s about answering that call.
“That’s why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption.
To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn’t about any one person – it’s about answering that call.
That’s why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) November 13, 2026
The move comes after Schumer insisted he had party “unity” behind closed doors… which was just hours after a media briefing in which two prominent Democratic caucus members, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, made it clear they wouldn’t be supporting Schumer.
REPORTER: Are you a no on Schumer?
SANDERS: “Yes”
SLOTKIN: “Whoever wants my vote is gonna have to show me a concrete plan…” https://t.co/yNlzwfMIro
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 10, 2026
“I’m confident I will be elected majority leader,” Schumer told reporters after the presser.
“And our caucus is really united in focusing on bringing down costs, on ending the corruption, on ending the chaos, on ending the war. We have great unity in our caucus, and I’ll be proud to lead it as majority leader.”
REPORTER: “Senator Sanders just held a press conference where he said he cannot support you for leader. Senator Slotkin was with him…how do you respond to that?”
SCHUMER: “I’m confident I will be elected Majority Leader, and our caucus is really united…” https://t.co/niQPutpf04
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 10, 2026
This rang pretty hollow. As I wrote after this happened on Tuesday, when people in the party start publicly talking about the fact that it’s time for you to go, it’s fair to say they’ve been talking privately about your departure for quite a while, and very seriously at that.
This wasn’t some sort of great prescience on my part, or else I’d give up this writing gig and start playing the metaphorical ponies on Kalshi full time.
I merely observed the obvious: Back in 2024, it took weeks for any major Democrat to come out and say the bloody obvious after the first presidential debate — that Joe Biden had neurologically degraded to the point where he was no longer a viable commander in chief or candidate. And that was after watching this:
President Biden seems to stumble while answering a question about drug prices, going silent before saying, “We finally beat Medicare.”
Donald Trump: “He’s right, he did beat Medicare, he beat it to death.” https://t.co/JxyJXW6atJ
— The Recount (@therecount) June 28, 2024
Trump, on Biden: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.” https://t.co/8KsppJdVld
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) June 28, 2024
So yeah, the fact that this was going to happen — and that it was almost certainly going to be Van Hollen who challenged Schumer — seemed a fait accompli.
This left two questions, though: Why, and why Van Hollen?
It’s easy to see why Van Hollen might be interested: naked opportunity, although it might not be the opportunity he wants, as we’ll get into later.
But why change horses? Schumer’s biggest sin in the eyes of the left is not shutting down the government in the early days of Trump 2.0, when he realized the administration held all the cards on spending and was more than willing to let the Department of Government Efficiency use a shutdown to its advantage.
For an act of calculated political maneuvering that was probably worth a few dozen seats in the House and Senate — plus a midterm effort that saw the Democrats win in previously unthinkable Republican strongholds like Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas — Van Hollen is, at the very least, trying to unseat him with the help of some pretty big Democrat names — mostly on the left, but across the party spectrum, such as it still exists.
The American public spoke clearly last week. They rejected Trumpism. But we have yet to earn our mandate. That will require bold leadership.
I called on Sen. @ChrisVanHollen to lead our caucus as a candidate back in April because he leads with courage and experience. We need both right now. Which is why I’m proud to stand with him in his bid to lead our Senate majority.
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) November 13, 2026
Politically, Van Hollen is not terribly different from the alternative, aside from being more Israel-skeptical. He’s not that much more progressive than Schumer. If this were a move to shuffle off the Washington gerontocracy, Van Hollen would be an odd choice: He’s only eight years younger than Schumer at 67, and four years removed from a stroke.
And if health doesn’t force Van Hollen’s absence, another calling might. It’s no secret that Van Hollen is considering a 2028 presidential run and has been making the requisite media rounds.
While he’s firmly in the second tier of candidates, the 2028 Democratic field is particularly bonkers inasmuch as none of the first-tier contenders — Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, going by the prediction market odds — is especially electable, even if things go swimmingly for the Democrats for the next two years.
This would put Van Hollen in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation.
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Sure, he’s more likely to become Senate majority leader than president, but he also stands a pretty good chance of being president, or at least getting the nomination.
If he passes it up this time to lead the party in the upper chamber, this is pretty much it for him when it comes to a shot at the White House. If he takes on the leadership but then spends his time at Iowa meet-and-greets, he’ll also have blown it because the same people stanning over the guy now will get that he just saw this as a stepping stone.
Whatever the case, Schumer is still sounding a positive note — albeit not one about all that amazing goodwill he’s riding atop with his caucus.
I welcome 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.
I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 13, 2026
“I welcome 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 on X. “I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”
Boy, that “unity” talk really de-escalated quickly.
Time to bring out the “Dems in disarray” headlines from storage, and a lot sooner than any of us in the media cliché business thought we’d be needing to.
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