Bernie Sanders and Elissa Slotkin oppose Chuck Schumer for Senate leader

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elissa Slotkin said Tuesday they would oppose Chuck Schumer as leader of the incoming Senate Democratic majority, weeks before the expected leadership vote.

Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, appeared with Michigan's Slotkin at a Capitol press conference to announce his decision. CBS News described Sanders as the highest-profile progressive so far to oppose Schumer's candidacy.

"I personally have known Chuck Schumer for over 30 years, and I like Chuck," Sanders said. "But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader."

Schumer, meanwhile, has said he is confident he will become majority leader.

After the midterms last week, Indivisible said voters "want a new generation of Democratic fighters." The liberal group was among the earliest to publicly demand that Schumer step down or be removed.

Maine Sen.-elect Troy Jackson, who unseated Republican Susan Collins, told reporters last week, "I've told Senator Schumer I'm going to support somebody else."

Schumer addressed opposition from newly elected Democrats last Wednesday. "The issue is not me. I'll be reelected as majority leader. But the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want," he said.

Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen said Monday he was "in listening mode" and had not ruled out running. "What I've said from the very beginning is, we shouldn't have a coronation," he said. Slotkin said she had "a really productive conversation" with Van Hollen that day, though she did not endorse him.

Sanders said Tuesday that he and Slotkin had just met with Schumer, whose ideas for plans did not go far enough in Sanders' view.

"Whoever wants my vote is going to have to show me a concrete plan that's definitively different," Slotkin said. She said a leader's plan should address what would be done in the first 100 days "to put money in people's pockets."

Slotkin asked colleagues to withhold quorum until a candidate offers such a plan, even if the leadership contest has only one candidate. "I've sat in that room and tried to figure out what our plan was for two years, and I think maybe it's because I come from a national security background, you can't lead people if you can't lay out where you're going," she said.

At another press conference Tuesday, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand credited Schumer's decisions, fundraising and recruitment. Gillibrand chaired the Senate Democrats' campaign arm. Pounding the podium, she said there would be, "despite all the grumbling, enormous gratitude for the hard work he has done to get us to this position."

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego said he still backs Schumer's leadership despite their differences. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat who defeated Republican Jon Husted to return to the Senate, also said he supports Schumer.

The left-leaning group RootsAction began a campaign Tuesday asking constituents to press senators to support Van Hollen, Newsweek reported. The group said Schumer "has been a devoted servant of corporatism, Big Tech, go-slow status-quo economics, and Israel-right-or-wrong policies."

The leadership vote

Democrats will hold at least 54 Senate seats when the 120th Congress convenes in January. Their candidates also lead in the uncalled races in Alaska and Mississippi.

Many Democrats have called for generational change after Schumer's tenure as caucus leader. Incoming senators can vote before they are seated. The caucus elects its leader in a secret vote requiring a simple majority, with no vote on the Senate floor.

A compromise circulated before Election Day would have kept Schumer as leader on the understanding that he would retire when his term ends in two years, Time reported. Schumer has not said whether he plans to do that. Time reported that many senators owe Schumer favors stemming from his two decades at the helm of the party's Senate campaign arm.

The Hill reported that Schumer is seen as partly responsible for the midterm victory because he recruited and supported winning candidates.

Schumer's odds and polling

Trading on prediction market Kalshi implied an 89% chance Tuesday of Schumer becoming majority leader, compared with 70% a week earlier, Newsweek reported.

A YouGov/Economist poll of registered voters conducted Nov. 4-6 found 23% viewed Schumer favorably and 54% unfavorably. Its margin of error was plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

No one has entered the race against him. The Associated Press reported that Schumer is expected to win most of his colleagues' support easily. The new Congress begins Jan. 3.