Working Families Party Joins Call for Schumer to Step Aside in Senate Leader Race

Echoing a call from a key machinists' union earlier this week, the Working Families Party on Friday became the latest organization to acknowledge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's years of leadership—as it urged the New York Democrat to allow the party to begin a new chapter with fresh leadership.

The group's leaders wrote to Schumer on behalf of its hundreds of thousands of members "and the working-class people we organize" to thank him for helping to pass crucial relief packages during the coronavirus pandemic and the Inflation Reduction Act.

But the leaders emphasized that regardless of previous Democratic successes, the voters who turned out in last week's historic elections and handed the party control of the US Senate and House, flipping numerous seats from red to blue, were not giving their "endorsement of business as usual for either major party."

"Our coalition knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors this election year, and heard from voters who are fed up with a political system that has failed to deliver change at the scale they need," reads the letter. "Voters demanded change, and many of them made clear to us that they meant change in Democratic leadership too."

The letter came as some Democrats in the Senate, including Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), credited Schumer with securing the party's new majority in the elections. Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Angus King (I-Maine) all reached for a baseball metaphor to explain why they were supporting Schumer, comparing the election to the World Series.

Democrats who won those races have expressed doubt that their supporters were hoping to secure a majority led by Schumer, a staunch supporter of Israel and opponent of the broadly popular Medicare for All proposal who has held public office for over four decades.

Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (Kansas) has called Schumer a "divisive figure" in his home state, while Sen.-elect Scott Colom (Miss.) on Friday rejected the idea that the Senate minority leader had "recruited" him.

"It’s fair to assume not a single American cast their 2026 vote believing it was an enthusiastic affirmation of Chuck Schumer," said David Sirota of The Lever. "There were lots of Americans who believed they were voting for change—including a change in the Democratic Party. Democrats ignore this at their peril."

"Working-class voters are demanding a government that will fight for them with urgency and conviction," said WFP. "With deep respect for your service, we urge you not to seek another term as Senate Democratic leader. It's time for a new generation of leadership in the Senate to carry forward the agenda the voters demanded last week: taxing the rich to fund the needs of working families, guaranteeing healthcare and childcare, lowering the cost of housing, ending the corrosive influence of money in politics, and making our democracy work for the many, not the few."

The group later said it was endorsing Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who announced late Thursday that he was challenging Schumer for the role, and called on Democrats in the Senate to back him.

WFP noted that Van Hollen is a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act "and has said Democrats must stop tinkering around the edges of a broken system," showed leadership in the fight against President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda when he went to El Salvador to demand the return of his constituent, Kilmar Ábrego Garcia, and has long called for the US to condition aid and block weapons sales to Israel.

“The voters who just elected a new Senate majority are asking for a new generation of leadership that will deliver on housing, healthcare, and childcare. We believe Senator Van Hollen is the right choice for this moment to lead that fight, and we are proud to stand with him," said Jasmine Gripper, state director of the New York Working Families Party.

According to a tally by Drop Site News, 16 senators have expressed support for Schumer and eight have backed Van Hollen or are leaning towards supporting him, based on their previous comments on the minority leader. Twenty-two senators have indicated they are undecided, and nine have not said what their position is on the race.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) has called for new leadership, and said Friday that she will not be supporting Schumer, but did not say specifically that she plans to vote for Van Hollen.

Paul Blest of More Perfect Union posited that support from Slotkin, who has presented herself as a "moderate" Democrat, would be key for Van Hollen.

"If it becomes a progressive vs. moderate thing, Schumer wins that every time because there are more moderates in the Senate," said Blest. "It would need to be about retiring an unpopular leader to signal it’s a different party."