WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Thursday night that he will run for Senate majority leader in the next Congress, setting up a challenge to Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and says he already has the votes to keep the job.
“In this election, the American people called for change,” Van Hollen said in a statement posted on his Senate website. “They called for a change from Donald Trump’s disastrous policies – but even bigger than that, a change from the status quo that isn’t working for working people. 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. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
Schumer answered within hours. “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 said in a statement reported by Roll Call. “I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”
Senate Democrats will choose their leader by secret ballot in early December, NPR reported. The winner will lead a majority of 55 seats, which could grow to 56 depending on the outcome of the uncalled Senate race in Alaska.
Van Hollen calls himself the underdog
Van Hollen, 67, was elected to the Senate in 2016 after more than a decade representing a Maryland district in the Washington suburbs in the House. He served in House Democratic leadership and has chaired both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to Roll Call. He gained national attention last year for pressing for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador, NPR noted.
In an interview with MS NOW after his announcement, Van Hollen said Schumer would be the favorite. “Am I the underdog? Yes,” he said, according to Roll Call. “You’re talking about an incumbent who uses the power of incumbency to, you know, provide deals to people.”
He laid out an agenda for a Democratic Senate’s first 100 days: restoring the Medicaid funding Republicans cut in last year’s budget reconciliation law, extending Affordable Care Act tax credits and going further to “make health care more affordable for tens of millions of people.” He added, “We need to immediately make it clear that nobody’s going to pay one penny to subsidize data centers,” and called for “a livable minimum wage.”
Van Hollen also said he would stay out of contested Democratic primaries and would make sure the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Roll Call reported.
Schumer’s supporters point to the midterm results
Schumer’s allies argued that the size of the new majority is the strongest case for keeping him. “Chuck has outlined an aggressive plan for the new Democratic majority which is directly responsive to the message we heard from the voters, and he has the experience and unique mastery of the Senate process to make it happen,” said Sen. Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats. “Why would you fire the manager when you just won the World Series?”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin made the same point. “The Brewers just had a record season, and next year is not the time to change our management,” she said. “The same is true in the Senate.”
Van Hollen’s early backers include Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, who said he was “the first candidate in the country to call on Senator Chris Van Hollen to lead Senate Democrats” in April. Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said he would oppose Schumer, and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan told reporters “I am seeking change” without saying how she would vote, NPR reported. The Associated Press also reported the challenge Thursday night.
What it means for the region
Van Hollen is one of three Senate Democrats from the Washington region who will cast ballots, along with Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks and Virginia’s Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Because the vote is by secret ballot, senators are not required to say how they will vote.
The contest also sets up weeks of what Politico’s Inside Congress newsletter called “an intense weekslong pressure campaign” on Democratic senators who had hoped to avoid a contested race. Van Hollen put it plainly in his MS NOW interview: “People will have to make a decision one way or the other.”
Featured photo: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in July 2017. (Senate Democrats / Flickr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped)
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