Incoming Senate Democrats Won't Commit to Schumer as Leader, and No Challenger Has Emerged

Days after Democrats' midterm sweep, a bloc of their incoming senators is refusing to commit to the man who has led the caucus since 2017.

At least seven incoming Democratic senators have said or signaled that they won't commit to Chuck Schumer for majority leader, according to Newsweek. The names reported across sources include Annie Andrews (South Carolina), Adam Hamilton (Kansas), Abdul El-Sayed (Michigan), James Talarico (Texas), Juliana Stratton (Illinois), Chris Pappas (New Hampshire), Peggy Flanagan (Minnesota) and Troy Jackson (Maine). Schumer, 75, has led Senate Democrats since 2017.

Who has said what

Flanagan was the most direct. At her first news conference after beating Republican Michele Tafoya, she said: "I think it's time for new leadership." She also said she is "tremendously grateful" for Schumer's leadership, and she named no replacement.

Hamilton, a megachurch pastor who unseated Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, told CNN in September: "I mean no disrespect for Chuck Schumer, but we need new leadership." He confirmed Thursday that his position "hasn't changed." He is the first Democrat to win a Kansas Senate seat in 94 years. "In Kansas, Chuck Schumer is a liability for Democrats," Hamilton said.

Andrews told Fox News's Bret Baier on Thursday: "I still very much believe it's time for generational change on both sides of the aisle."

El-Sayed said he wants a leader focused on "getting money out of politics, putting money in your pocket, passing Medicare for All." He told CNN on Thursday that Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen "would be an amazing Senate majority leader." Whether to run, El-Sayed said, is "a choice he has to make." Van Hollen has not announced a bid.

Jackson said he told Schumer directly that he would "support somebody else." Stratton said at a January debate: "I will not support Chuck Schumer as leader in the Senate."

Talarico has refused to commit to Schumer. Mississippi Democratic candidate Scott Colom has also said he won't back him.

Schumer's response

Schumer has brushed it off. "The issue is not me," he told reporters Wednesday. "I'll be re-elected as majority leader." Asked by CNN's Manu Raju about Hamilton, Jackson and El-Sayed by name, he repeated the line.

On MS Now on Thursday he pointed to the results. "We've had a very, very strong finish here, and I have worked really hard to get the results we got," he said. "The issue is unity, fighting together."

The arithmetic favors him. Democrats hold at least 54 seats, with Alaska and Mississippi leaning their way as of Thursday, and Schumer needs only a majority of the caucus. As of Friday afternoon, no Democrat has entered the race against him, and no senior Democratic senator has expressed interest in the job.

The case for change

Indivisible, the progressive group, said this week that "voters made it very clear that they want a new generation of Democratic fighters." It added: "It's time for Senate Democrats to choose new leadership."

Schumer's public standing is weak. The final Economist/YouGov poll before Election Day, taken Oct. 23-26 among 1,440 registered voters, put his approval at 24% and disapproval at 54%. Those were the worst numbers of the four congressional leaders. The poll's margin of error was about 3 points, and it closed before the election.

Much of the anger at Schumer dates to last year's government shutdown, which ended after he backed a Republican bill to reopen federal agencies. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a "capitulation." Democratic senators who spoke to the Associated Press before the election saw no clear successor.

Israel and the filibuster

Israel is one fault line. In February, Schumer told a group of pro-Israel Jewish leaders that one of his jobs was to "fight for aid to Israel, all the aid that Israel needs." El-Sayed supports ending U.S. support for Israel. Others in the caucus, such as Pennsylvania's John Fetterman, are staunchly pro-Israel.

The filibuster is another. Talarico and Stratton have called for ending it. Talarico called it "a Jim Crow relic" and said "the majority has the right to govern."

Many of the dissenters share a pitch. Flanagan said many of the newly elected refused corporate PAC money and are "beholden only to the people who elected us."

The House side

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries faces similar noise. A Change.org petition urging House Democrats to reject him as speaker had 762,343 verified signatures by Thursday night, up from roughly 20,000 on Wednesday. Democracy Now! put it above 830,000. The petition's author, TikTok creator Nicole Whitted, is a compensated Change.org ambassador. Jeffries has no declared challenger either.

In the same YouGov poll, Jeffries had 26% approval and 47% disapproval. Speaker Mike Johnson had 32% and 45%.

What happens next

Senate Democrats face a leadership vote in December, before the new Congress takes office in January. Two questions remain open. One is whether Van Hollen or anyone else files against Schumer. The other is whether the final tally in Alaska and Mississippi widens a caucus that already stands at 54 seats.