By Sen. Bernie Sanders:
Think back to what we’ve accomplished since the disaster of Trump’s 2024 election victory.
In February 2025, we began our Fight Oligarchy campaign which, over a period of time, took us to 27 states with 58 rallies. Over 340,000 Americans – Democrats, Republicans, Independents – attended those rallies, including events in conservative states like Idaho, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Nebraska and West Virginia.
In November 2025, we worked with Zohran Mamdani’s extraordinary grassroots campaign and helped defeat the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment and the City’s oligarchs. Zohran, as the dynamic mayor of New York City, is now one of the most popular elected officials in the country.
In mid-2026, we began organizing for the coming midterm elections and supported 16 candidates for the U.S. House and 4 for the U.S. Senate. Almost all of those candidates had to defeat establishment Democrats in the primaries, as well as Republicans in the general election. Well, we won 15 of the 16 House races and 3 out of the 4 Senate races. In the process, we flipped 6 House seats away from Republican control as well as 1 Senate seat.
Trust me. The progressive candidates that we helped elect, often from working class backgrounds, are going to bring an energy and perspective to Congress that will shake up the system. We also successfully supported a large number of down-ballot candidates across the country who will play important roles in state legislatures and local governments.
Perhaps, even more importantly, we fundamentally changed the nature of America’s political conversation. On issue after issue – Medicare for All, a wealth tax on billionaires, strong AI regulations, ending U.S. military aid to Israel, etc., etc. – the American people now support our positions. They understand that we must go beyond the same old, same old status quo policies and implement bold solutions to the unprecedented set of crises facing our country.
Now, in mid-November 2026, two weeks after the massive Democratic midterm election victory, progressives face an important challenge. With a strong majority in the U.S. Senate, who should be the Democratic Majority Leader – the individual who leads the way in setting the Senate legislative and political agenda for the next two years? Should the Democratic Caucus re-elect Chuck Schumer to that position or do we need to move in a new direction?
Let me tell you why I am supporting Senator Chris Van Hollen for Democratic Majority Leader.
The election between Chuck Schumer and Chris Van Hollen must be understood for what it is. This is not a personality contest. This is a debate about the future of the Democratic Party. It is a debate about whether the Democratic Party remains a top-down party dominated by billionaire campaign contributors, inside-the-beltway consultants and 30 second TV ads, or whether we can transform it into a grassroots party of, by and for the working families of our country.
Schumer and Israeli president Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv during the Gaza war on October 15, 2023.
The election for Democratic Senate leader will determine whether or not we continue to tinker around the edges and maintain status quo policies, or whether we finally have the courage to take on enormously powerful special interests and address the unprecedented crises that we face. For example:
Do we address the issue of oligarchy, obscene income and wealth inequality, and the reality that never before in the history of our country have so few people held so much wealth and so much power?
Do we address the issue of a corrupt campaign finance system and their super-PACs that enables billionaires to buy elections and undermine our democracy?
Do we address the issue that, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country and millions of seniors are unable to retire with dignity?
Do we address the reality that our current health care system is dysfunctional, wildly expensive and that we are the only major country on Earth that does not guarantee healthcare for all as a human right?
Do we address the reality that Artificial Intelligence (AI), the most transformative technology in history, is being pushed down our throats by a handful of Big Tech billionaires who could care less about the well-being of ordinary Americans?
Do we address the reality that climate change is causing deadly heat waves, massive forest fires, drought and extreme weather disturbances and will only get worse if we don’t transform our energy systems away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy?
Do we address the reality that our immigration system is broken and that we have, with ICE, a domestic army that has killed Americans in cold blood and has acted in cruel, illegal and unconstitutional ways?
Do we address the reality that the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and the current war in Iran were based on lies and that we need to fundamentally rethink our foreign policy – including continued military funding to the extremist government in Israel?
Bottom line: whether we like it or not, our country faces some extraordinary and unprecedented crises. Do we seriously address these difficult challenges, and restore the faith of the American people that their government can improve their lives, or do we continue the same old, same old politics?
In large measure, that is what this Senate Democratic Leadership election is all about.
In my view, Senator Van Hollen will lead the Caucus in a new direction.
That’s what we need.
That’s why I’m supporting him.
Van Hollen meets with Abrego Garcia in April 2025.
