‘On Us to Meet This Moment’: Van Hollen Will Challenge Schumer

After a week of “actively listening” to progressive Democrats who were calling on him to challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for Senate majority leader, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) confirmed late Thursday that the race is on.

“In this election, the American people called for change. They called for a change from [Republican President] Donald Trump’s disastrous policies – but even bigger than that, a change from the status quo that isn’t working for working people,” Van Hollen said in a statement posted to social media late Thursday evening.

“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership. This is not about any one person – it’s about answering the call of the American people,” Van Hollen’s statement said. “That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”

Within minutes, Schumer had a social media post of his own that did not name Van Hollen or specifically mention a challenge, but that said he looked forward to “leading our new Democratic majority.”

“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead,” Schumer’s post said. “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.”

Schumer’s supporters point to those Democratic seats as one reason to keep him: Democrats will go from the minority in the current Congress, when they have 45 seats and two independents who caucus with them, to the majority next year with at least 55 seats. They could pick up one more when the Senate race in Alaska is decided.

Despite those gains, some progressives have been looking to replace Schumer, who they see as too moderate, too friendly with Israel and not aggressive enough when it comes to challenging President Donald Trump and his policies.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders announced this week that they would not support Schumer’s reelection. Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) has called on Van Hollen to run. Van Hollen was an early supporter of El-Sayed’s candidacy, Schumer was not.

Schumer, 75, was elected to the Senate in 1998, after 18 years in the House, and has been majority or minority leader of the Senate Democrats since 2017. Van Hollen, 67, was first elected to the Senate in 2016, after 14 years in the House. He represented Montgomery County in the House of Delegates from 1991 to 1995, and was in the state Senate from then to 2003.

Until Thursday, Van Hollen had been saying only that there should be a discussion of what Democrats want in a leader, not a coronation, and that he was not ready to make an announcement. He did not say Thursday what caused him to change his position.

One day before Van Hollen’s announcement, a number of progressive organizations – Baltimore Rapid Response Network, Charm City Indivisible, Allies for Democracy and IfNotNow Baltimore – scheduled a Saturday rally in Baltimore to urge Van Hollen to run for majority leader.

“Some people are saying, ‘Well, Chuck Schumer played an instrumental role in in winning the midterms,’” said Ryan Harvey, with Baltimore Rapid Response. “Well, thank you. You should have done that because you’re one of the leaders of the Democratic Party, and that’s what’s expected of you.

“Leadership should be … a democracy. It should be a conversation. That’s what Van Hollen’s been calling for,” Harvey said.

He said Van Hollen is more vocal about not only challenging Trump and his administration, but also speaking publicly in support of issues such as Medicare for all.

Van Hollen has been a vocal critic of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and made headlines last year when he traveled to El Salvador to demand the release of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after he was erroneously swept up by ICE agents and deported there.

“Sen. Van Hollen has really stepped up since Trump took office a second time, and has really kind of distinguished himself as somebody who’s willing to fight and trying to push the Democratic Party to be to be tougher and more assertive,” Harvey said.

“Van Hollen is not some radical, progressive guy. He’s a Democrat who seems to have been listening quite closely to what people in the party, voters, his constituents have been saying and wanting,” Harvey said. “This is about the future of the Democratic Party, and it’s about defining what this blue wave mandate means.”

Another group, Progressive Maryland, started a change.org petition Thursday afternoon calling on Van Hollen to run for majority leader position. Without naming Schumer, the petition says that “if the caucus defaults to the leadership that has run it since 2017, this [blue] wave will fade into business as usual.”

Van Hollen has also said recently that he was “kicking the tires” on a potential 2028 presidential bid. It’s not clear how a leadership bid might affect that.

Despite their losses in the midterm elections, Senate Republicans this week retained Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as their leader for the next Congress, when they will be in the minority. Thune reportedly did not face a challenger.