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U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Friday that he will run for Senate majority leader, becoming the first senator to openly challenge longtime Democratic leader Chuck Schumer after the party’s midterm victory.
“In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption. To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn’t about any one person, it’s about answering that call," Van Hollen, 67, wrote on X.
"That’s why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader," he added.
Schumer, 75, who has led Senate Democrats since 2017, responded: "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."
Democrats take over the Senate majority in January, and the caucus will choose its leader by secret ballot on Dec. 1.
Schumer needs a simple majority of the caucus.
Van Hollen told MSNOW he had the support of more than 10 of the 55 Democratic senators but acknowledged he was the "underdog."
"My view is this is very much in flux ... People will have to make a decision one way or the other," he said. Earlier this week he said Schumer should not get a "coronation."
Senator-elect Abdulrahman El-Sayed of Michigan endorsed Van Hollen. "The American public spoke clearly last week. They rejected Trumpism. But we have yet to earn our mandate. That will require bold leadership," he wrote, adding he had urged Van Hollen to run back in April.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, also said he would back Van Hollen.
"The time is now for change," Sanders said earlier this week.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin and incoming senators Annie Andrews of South Carolina, Adam Hamilton of Kansas, Troy Jackson of Maine and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota have called for new leadership, though they have not said whether they will support Van Hollen.
Sens. Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks and Kirsten Gillibrand back Schumer. "When the manager takes you to the World Series, you give them another contract," Gallego said.
Sen. Angus King called Schumer "one of the principal architects of the most successful election in modern history."
At a post-election Democratic gathering Tuesday, Van Hollen criticized Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee over their role in primaries.
"We have two members in that room, newly elected senators, who would not be there if Schumer and the DSCC had had their way," he said of El-Sayed and Flanagan. "(They) sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC against these candidates."
Progressives have targeted Schumer since he helped advance a Republican funding bill to avert a shutdown early in Trump’s second term, Politico reported.
Van Hollen, born in 1959 in Karachi, Pakistan, to a Foreign Service officer father, served 14 years in the House before entering the Senate in 2017. He gained national attention in 2025 as the first U.S. lawmaker to visit the El Salvador prison holding deportees, including Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and has said he is eyeing a 2028 presidential bid.
He is among the most outspoken Democratic critics of the Israeli government. In September 2025, he and Sen. Jeff Merkley released a report concluding Israel was carrying out "a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza," and in April 2025 he was one of 15 senators who voted to block $8.8 billion in weapons sales to Israel, as Van Hollen’s challenge reshapes the Democratic leadership race.
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