Van Hollen Challenges Schumer for Senate Democratic Leadership

Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, announced his decision Thursday night in an interview with Jen Psaki on MS NOW. He said the contest was “not about any one individual” but about answering the public’s call to reject the status quo and adopt new leadership. He argued that voters had rejected Donald Trump’s corruption, wars and cruelty, as well as an economic and political system he described as favoring the wealthy over working people.

Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan said he had urged Van Hollen to run in April, citing his “courage and experience.” Sanders, an independent from Vermont, endorsed him, saying voters wanted a Democratic Party willing to challenge powerful special interests and fight for working families. The leadership vote is expected in early December and would be the first contested Democratic leadership race in decades.

Sunrise Movement also backed Van Hollen, arguing that young voters wanted change and criticizing Schumer over his ties to billionaire donors. The group pointed to Van Hollen’s work on immigration detention, his criticism of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s influence, and his calls to end U.S. military aid to Israel. More than 50 Sunrise activists were arrested during a sit-in Thursday at Schumer’s Washington, D.C., office.

Schumer said on X that he welcomed discussion about the caucus’s future and was proud of its result—“55 seats and counting.” He added that he had the votes to continue as Democratic leader and looked forward to leading the new majority. Van Hollen has criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank; in remarks earlier this year, he said Americans did not want to be complicit in ethnic cleansing in the West Bank or what human rights groups and scholars have determined to be genocide in Gaza.