At least seven incoming Democratic senators have declined to commit to backing Chuck Schumer as Senate majority leader, turning the discontent that followed the midterm elections into an open revolt against the man who has led Senate Democrats since 2017. The holdouts have left the 75-year-old leader’s grip on the job in doubt for the first time.
The seven senators-elect are Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine, Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and James Talarico of Texas, according to multiple reports. Some have said outright that they will back someone else; others have stopped short of an endorsement and said the caucus should look at different options.
A revolt that gathered pace all week
The refusals gathered pace on 5 and 6 November, as one incoming senator after another broke ranks. Jackson, the senator-elect from Maine, told reporters he had already told Schumer to his face that he would support somebody else. Hamilton, a moderate megachurch pastor who flipped Kansas for the Democrats for the first time in nearly a century, has been among the clearest that Schumer is a liability in his state.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland added fuel on Wednesday, saying no senator should commit to Schumer yet and demanding an open discussion about leadership first. El-Sayed has publicly backed Van Hollen for the job instead, and progressives have floated Van Hollen as the main alternative. The progressive group Indivisible released a memo demanding a contested leadership election, and two petitions urging a new Senate leader passed 100,000 combined signatures on Thursday, 6 November.
Schumer insists he will be re-elected
Schumer told reporters on Wednesday, 4 November: “I’ll be re-elected as majority leader.” He waved away the personal angle, saying the issue was “focusing on the American people and what they want”. He still has allies, including Senator Cory Booker, who said Schumer deserves credit for “one of the most historic sweeps” in party history.
The maths is on Schumer’s side for now: he needs only a simple majority of the caucus, projected at 54 to 56 members after Democrats won at least 54 Senate seats, with Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled. But the leadership vote, scheduled for next month and held by secret ballot, will be the first test of whether the wave that delivered Democrats control of Congress also wants new leadership at the top. Talarico, who declined to commit to Schumer in a September interview and said the party needs “new blood” in Washington, summed up the mood of the newcomers: the voters who delivered the wave are making clear they want a fighter, not business as usual.
