DENVER — Senate Democrats are bracing for an intense, messy, distracting fight over whether Chuck Schumer or Chris Van Hollen should lead them come January.
Less than 24 hours into the battle Friday, it was already sucking up attention in Washington and in Denver, where many prominent Democrats — including Van Hollen — have gathered to discuss how to wield their new power come January.
“We’re going to have a long conversation about what the caucus should look like,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who is backing Schumer, told reporters in Colorado when asked about the leadership election.
Sen. Cory Booker, a member of Senate Democratic leadership, said in an interview Friday that “my phone has been blowing up.” And his fellow New Jersey Democrat, Sen. Andy Kim, who like Booker isn’t publicly backing the longtime New York leader or the Maryland upstart, is offering some advice on the leadership fight: Keep it clean.
“Regardless of how this unfolds, I hope we can do it in a way that tries our best to preserve our unity,” Kim said in an interview. “As we move forward, I just urge that we do our best to make sure that we’re respectful of each other.”
That plea comes as senators prepare to face a mountain of outside pressure ahead of the Dec. 1 contest. High-profile House Democrats, who have no role in determining who leads the Senate but influence massive online followings, are weighing in. And progressive outside groups are ramping up their existing pressure campaign on senators to either oppose Schumer, who is the favorite in the race, or push them to openly support Van Hollen.
Inside the Capitol, some Senate Democrats privately worry it’s exactly the wrong time to have a messy leadership fight, according to several people granted anonymity to describe private conversations.
Emboldened by their election wins, the party is trying to iron out its agenda and have bills ready to go on the floor once members are sworn in early next year. Democrats also need to figure out their strategy for a looming Dec. 11 funding deadline as they face pressure to either cut off funding for the Iran war or shut down the government.
“We are having a vigorous debate about the right mix of experience, capabilities, and vision, but this should not distract us from delivering on the urgent needs of our constituents,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) wrote in a social media post Friday, publicly echoing a sentiment that is bouncing around the caucus.
Kim added, “I’ll be honest — if we don’t have the right agenda, no matter who’s leader, it’s not going to get done.”
There’s frustration in corners of the caucus toward Van Hollen, according to three Democratic aides, that he has injected division into what should have been a unifying moment. Van Hollen, and his supporters, in turn, argue his leadership bid is aimed at delivering exactly what voters want: a change.
Booker said that Van Hollen has “absolutely earned the right to run,” but also credited Schumer as the quarterback of the Democrats’ Senate campaign push: “We just won a very big game, and you’ve got to give a lot of credit to his leadership.”
Democrats are privately discussing moving up the leadership election to next week, four of the people granted anonymity said. It’s not yet decided if that will happen, but one potential scenario would be for a senator to call for a vote on rescheduling it when Democrats meet for their caucus lunch Tuesday. Senators could hold the leadership vote later in the week before leaving for a weeklong Thanksgiving recess.
Even some Schumer allies are skeptical it will be moved up, though, and there’s confusion in other corners about whether Senate Democratic rules dictating the timing of the leadership election can be overruled.
Those rules say the election cannot be held before December but they can be waived. A waiver vote would be conducted by secret ballot, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, which could help take pressure off Democratic senators wary of public backlash.
Senate Democrats are already beginning to meet privately to start debating their agenda for the new Congress. Senators are set to hold a teleconference Saturday to hear from incoming freshmen and the soon-to-be chairs of the several key committees to hear about their priorities, according to a copy of the invite obtained by POLITICO. The meeting was scheduled before Van Hollen jumped into the race.
But it’s the leadership race that is now front and center. Schumer and Van Hollen are both talking privately to colleagues, and, according to Van Hollen, they’ve also spoken to each other.
Schumer claimed in a statement Thursday that he has the votes to win the election, and Democratic senators and aides broadly agree. Several Democratic senators have publicly backed Schumer in the past day, including Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. Several other senators, granted anonymity given the sensitivity of the race, have told POLITICO in recent weeks that they intend to back Schumer.
Van Hollen has acknowledged repeatedly that he is the “underdog” in the election. He said Thursday night that he had the support of more than 10 senators; Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon both threw their support behind him Friday.
But Senate Democratic insiders believe he will struggle to approach the 28 or 29 votes he will need to win — and some question if he can hit 20. Most Democrats, they say, are OK with two more years of Schumer’s leadership and, like Booker, believe he deserves some credit for the sweeping election win.
Van Hollen has faced internal doubts that his leadership ambitions are anything more than a dalliance meant to draw attention for a future presidential bid. He said Friday he no longer plans to run for the White House in 2028 and was sincere about leading the Senate.
“We understand that this will be a competition,” Van Hollen told reporters Friday in Denver. “I think it's important to give Senate Democrats a choice.”
Sentner and Wren reported from Denver. Carney reported from Washington. Meredith Lee Hill in Washington contributed to this report.
