Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) is abandoning his presidential ambitions for 2028 as he seeks instead to oust Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) from his leadership role.
“I’m no longer pursuing that,” Van Hollen said Friday of his potential 2028 presidential bid, after a speech to Democrats gathered in Denver to celebrate the party’s huge wins in the midterm elections and chart a cohesive path forward.
“I believe that the size and scale of these majorities provides an opportunity for the United States Senate to answer the call of the American people,” Van Hollen said. “We can’t go back to business as usual.”
He announced his challenge to Schumer, the Senate minority leader, late Thursday, sparking a public power struggle alongside the work to unite Democrats. Until this week, Van Hollen had been “kicking the tires” on a presidential bid.
Van Hollen, 67, said the election called for a generational shift and that Schumer, 75, represented a style of politics that voters wanted to change.
He again characterized himself as an underdog in his leadership competition with Schumer, who has led the chamber’s Democratic caucus since 2017. And he declined to publicly reveal how many fellow senators have agreed to support him. But Van Hollen said he spoke directly with Schumer about it.
“We understand that this will be a competition. I think it’s important to give Senate Democrats a choice. That’s what we just gave voters all over the country a choice. They chose change,” he said.
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