Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has announced that he will run to be next Democratic Senate Majority Leader.  The vote will be held on December 1st, a month before the new Democratic congress is officially sworn in on January 1st.  Van Hollen absolutely can and should win. 

In 2016 when Senate Democrats first elected Chuck Schumer Democratic Senate leader I argued that Schumer was the exact wrong Senator at the exact wrong time.  What followed were two Trump presidencies and a MAGA revolution that destroyed a wide swath of progressive legislative gains accrued over the last 75 years.  

The Independent Senator from Maine Angus King has said that he will vote for Chuck Schumer to return as Senate Majority Leader.  On his Senate website King wrote in part, “Chuck Schumer is one of the principal architects of the most successful election in modern history, and I see no reason to change the leadership that helped make that success possible.”  Was he?

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was far more involved in the hands-on organizing aspect of the Democrat’s 2026 effort.  Sanders better understood  the source of public anger in a more visceral way.  The corruption most Americans now see all too clearly is something Sanders has been warning about for years.  Long shunned  and marginalized by the Democratic establishment Sanders’ political philosophy is now bedrock for the new Democratic platform.   Schumer on the other hand spent most of his time discouraging progressive Democratic candidates, a number of which won anyway. 

But the chief architect of the Democrats overwhelming victory was America’s provocateur in chief Donald Trump.  As much as voters went to the polls to vote for Democrats the motivation to vote against the corruption and abuse emanating from the White House was even greater.  If there was a single catalyst for huge huge turnout and sweeping Democratic successes it was a determination to stop the Trump agenda.  

If one Democrat can be said to embody what is wrong with the Democratic party it has to be Chuck Schumer.  For too long the drift within the Democratic party has been away from political organizing and towards political marketing.  Engaging the voters is difficult, resource intensive and messy.  Leading and steering the voters is far more efficient, until it isn’t.  

A NORC poll in conducted weeks prior to the midterm election found that, “80 percent of likely voters wanted “substantial change” or “complete and total upheaval” in the way the country is run, 72 percent disapproved of Congress’ job performance, and 64 percent were dissatisfied with how things were going in the country.”

What Schumer is saying is that A) he is personally responsible for the Democratic wave, hardly and B) that voter dissatisfaction doesn’t apply to the Democratic Senate and specifically to him.  On both points he is dead wrong.  The voters writ large and Democratic voters specifically are literally desperate for change.  

Schumer is clearly positioning himself to continue leading the Senate Democratic caucus and says he is confident he will win.  But his own seat in the Senate is far from secure.  Schumer will be up for reelection in 2028 and it is far from certain he will win.  A poll conducted in April, 2025 showed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leading Schumer by 18%.  Arguably Schumer should be more focused on his 2028 reelection bid than on assuming the role Senate Majority leader.  

How do you squander historic political momentum?  You lock the door and return to the dark cynicism of non-transparent top-down leadership.  A thing Schumer is a master of.  

Chris Van Hollen in his tenth year in the Senate has become an effective voice for moderation.  Not a true old-guarder nor a yearling Van Hollen moves comfortably is progressive and establishment circles.  He speaks with experience and is open to new ideas.  

Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador to meet with and facilitate the return to the U.S. of wrongly deported and imprisoned Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia drew national attention to the Maryland lawmaker.  Van Hollen took a significant personal risk in an attempt to navigate a complicated and potentially dangerous matter of international legal affairs on behalf of a lawful U.S. resident in a very difficult environment without resources.  Against long odds Van Hollen succeeded and Abrego Garcia was allowed to return to his wife and child in the U.S.  The episode propelled Van Hollen to national attention and a high degree of public respect.  

Of paramount importance to the Democratic party is engaging and energizing its base, a base it all to often alienates.  The Democratic Party is far stronger with the base onboard than with them locked out in the street.  The path to the future for the Democrats is through political organizing.  Van Hollen is far better positioned to lead that march than Schumer.

Chris Van Hollen for Democratic Majority Leader.