Senate Dems break 32-year drought on leadership challenges
As House Democrats barrel toward a speakership coronation , Senate Dems are getting their first contested race for leader in over 30 years. Why it matters: Democrats have spent years tearing themselves apart over the party's direction — without forcing their leaders to win a head-to-head vote. Senate Democrats will get that fight this year for the first time since Tom Daschle vs. Chris Dodd in…
After a 32-year absence, Senate Democrats are set to face their first contested leadership challenge in over three decades. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has announced his candidacy to challenge incumbent Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a secret ballot vote. This marks the first time since Tom Daschle's 1994 challenge to Chris Dodd that Democrats will determine their leader through a head-to-head vote.
No one has challenged Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for the position of House Speaker before, despite the calls and emails urging Democrats to oppose Jeffries. Van Hollen is leading the challenge with 5 public votes, followed by 14 votes for Schumer. To secure victory, the nominee must accumulate 29 votes. Meanwhile, within the House, the primary question is whether any Democrats will oppose Jeffries on the House floor on Jan.
3. Jeffries has received unanimous support from his caucus since 2022 and remains confident about the trajectory of the Democratic Party.
Written by urgent.news from Axios's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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