The Maryland Democrat has been critical of Schumer, who has led the caucus for nearly a decade.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced Thursday that he would challenge Chuck Schumer for the top Democratic leadership role in the Senate, arguing the party needs to take a more populist direction.
“In this election, the American people called for change. They called for a change from Donald Trump’s disastrous policies — but even bigger than that, a change from the status quo that isn’t working for working people,” Van Hollen, who represents Maryland, said in a statement obtained by The Washington Sun.
I think it’s even more than that though. As misguided and idiotic as it is a lot of people I think voted for Trump because they wanted change and thought he would bring change. Clearly not. But that same sentiment I think in a lot of ways spurred the Blue Wave. You can hear it in multiple interviews they’ve had with voters over the last few weeks. People want change, you hear it over and over and over again. More than any single issue.
So if once again change doesn’t come even with that massive voting surge I think there’s a real chance the American people, or at least the vast majority of them more than we’ve ever seen, just check out. So what happens when the majority of the voting populace no longer believes in democracies capacity to actually govern? What happens when we combine that with the Republican clap back? I think they lay down and take the end of democracy. I think Republicans finally finished dismantling the thing and we no longer have one.