The midterm blue tsunami might sweep away Sen. Charles E. Schumer, the top Senate Democrat who seemed a shoo-in for majority leader but is now facing a different kind of wave from his own caucus.
Newly elected Democrats are lining up, but not in support of the 75-year-old Mr. Schumer, who has represented New York in the Senate for nearly 28 years.
At least five newly elected Senate Democrats said they won’t vote for Mr. Schumer when party lawmakers meet to select a majority leader this month.
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“It just feels like it is a time for fresh ideas and new ideas and somebody who can unite us instead of dividing us,” Adam Hamilton, the Democrat who flipped a Senate seat in deep-red Kansas, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Losing a vote from Mr. Hamilton and a few other newcomers would typically be no big deal for Mr. Schumer.
To win the position of majority leader, he needs support from a majority of his caucus, which is 54 seats and could grow by two additional seats if Democrats win uncalled races in Mississippi and Alaska.
But a bigger movement to replace him is developing, along with a potential opponent for the chamber’s top job.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, is said to be “open” to challenging Mr. Schumer and already has the backing of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat who pulled off a 7-point win in Michigan’s Senate race.
Mr. Van Hollen is one of the Senate’s most ardent opponents of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and wants to end U.S. funding to Israel.
His candidacy is pushed by Indivisible, the far-left, pro-Palestinian group that calls for an end to all U.S. military support of Israel.
Mr. Van Hollen has received “an outpouring of calls and is now in active listening mode,” according to Indivisible leader Ezra Levin, as reported by Politico.
If opposition to Mr. Schumer gains more momentum, he could find himself without enough support from the far-left, socialist-aligned members of his caucus while also losing the backing of newly elected moderates who think he’s too liberal.
Annie Andrews, who pulled off a shocking win in what had been reliably red South Carolina, said she won’t back Mr. Schumer, calling for “a generational change on both sides of the aisle.”
On Monday, Mr. Schumer’s whip count began eroding further, this time from long-serving Democrats who were once loyal to him.
“We need a conversation about leadership going forward because we need new energy and ideas,” three-term Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, told reporters in Hartford.
At least four newly elected Democrats haven’t committed to voting for Mr. Schumer, in addition to Mr. Hamilton and the four other newcomer “no” votes.
James Talarico, who flipped the long-red Texas Senate seat, said he’s undecided.
“I’m going to meet with every candidate for any leadership position. I’m going to ask tough questions about their vision and their values and their experience,” Mr. Talarico told CBS News.
Another group of senators, who label themselves the “Fight Club” and say they represent the left-wing populist faction of their party, could also move to block Mr. Schumer. The group of eight includes Sen. Bernard Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont, and far-left Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Neither has committed to backing Mr. Schumer.
If his caucus rejects Mr. Schumer’s bid to lead the new majority, it will be a stunning rebuke of a party leader that raised record-breaking sums on behalf of Democratic Senate candidates.
Mr. Schumer not only personally recruited several of the Democrats who won in swing states, he also pumped more than half a billion dollars into races throughout the country, including more than $354 million raised by his aligned super PAC. The spending helped to put more seats in play, which ultimately resulted in wins that far exceeded even his expectations.
“He oversaw the biggest Democratic sweep in the Senate since Watergate,” said Adam Jentleson, a former top Democratic aide who runs a think tank aimed at broadening the party’s appeal. “To me, the question of whether Schumer deserves to be reelected as leader after the most dominant performance by Senate Democrats in more than half a century is straightforward, and the answer is clearly yes.”
While building a massive war chest for Senate Democrats, Mr. Schumer also accrued anger and frustration from many caucus members and far-left groups, who hoped he would fight harder against Republicans and the Trump agenda.
Mr. Schumer has been a member of his party’s leadership team for decades and has held the position of Democratic leader for almost a decade.
Some Democrats didn’t want him to make deals with the Trump administration, as Mr. Schumer did in 2025 when he helped push through a GOP-backed funding bill that raised defense spending and reduced domestic spending.
Mr. Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible, called for Mr. Schumer to resign for not using the filibuster to block the defense bill.
“Senator Schumer has contributed to and led many important accomplishments that Indivisible is grateful for. But with our democracy on the line, he let us, the country, and the Democratic Party down,” Mr. Levin said.
Other far-left organizations and groups aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America also oppose Mr. Schumer, who they see as too moderate and beholden to corporate interests to advance a liberal agenda.
Mr. Schumer shrugged off opponents in a press conference the day after the election, telling reporters it’s not all about him, but rather implementing the Democrats’ agenda to lower costs and clean up corruption he believes is rampant in the Trump administration.
“The issue is not me. I’ll be reelected as the majority leader. The issue is focusing on the American people and what they want,” Mr. Schumer said.
• The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Schumer.
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