First posted on Instagram
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced on Thursday, November 12, 2026, that he will run for Senate majority leader, becoming the first Democrat to challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer for the party's top job in the Senate after Democrats won back the chamber in the November 3 midterm elections.
Van Hollen said voters sent a clear message in the midterms — that they want change from a status quo that is not working for working people — and that meeting the moment requires new leadership. "It's now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership," he said. "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."
He announced his candidacy in an interview on MS NOW's "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" on Thursday night, where he said more than 10 of the 55 Democratic senators have pledged to support his bid, while acknowledging he is the underdog against Schumer, who has led the Senate Democratic caucus since 2017 and says he already has the votes to remain leader.
Democratic senators will choose their leader by secret ballot in early December. Democrats will hold at least 55 seats in the next Senate, with the race in Alaska still undecided and the total potentially rising to 56.
Van Hollen's bid drew backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who said he would support him, and from Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, who also voiced support for a Van Hollen candidacy this week. Sanders and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said they would not support Schumer as leader, and nearly all of the nine newly elected Senate Democrats have said they would not back him either.
The announcement reverses Van Hollen's position of only days earlier. On November 8 he said he was not looking to be the next Democratic leader and was weighing a possible run for president in 2028. By November 10 he was actively calling colleagues about a challenge, and on Thursday he formally entered the race.
Van Hollen, 67, was elected to the Senate in 2016 after more than a decade in the House representing a Maryland suburb outside Washington. He has said he would use the new Democratic majority to hold the Trump administration accountable for what he calls "gross corruption," to push to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran — including through the upcoming government funding measure — and to advance an aggressive economic agenda aimed at working people. Schumer, 75, responded to the announcement on X, saying he has the votes to win.