1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

I voted Tuesday because I wanted change, and the country delivered. Democrats flipped Senate seats in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, and both Carolinas. Voters did not do that to restore the status quo. They did it to demand a Senate that fights. That is why I am asking you to vote against Chuck Schumer in the caucus leadership election. Do not let anyone credit him with this majority. In Maine, his handpicked candidate dropped out before the primary. Troy Jackson won that seat after refusing Schumer’s support and pledging not to vote for him as leader. In Michigan, Schumer backed Abdul El-Sayed’s primary opponent, and El-Sayed won anyway. The candidates who delivered this majority often did it in spite of Senate leadership, not because of it. His record in the minority was no better. In March 2025 he advanced a Republican funding bill with no conditions. Last fall’s shutdown fight ended with eight of his own members breaking ranks. Meanwhile, an increasingly authoritarian White House kept testing what it could get away with. This majority is a rare opening. Handing it to a leader whose instinct is caution would be a slap in the face to every American who showed up at the polls. Illinois’s own Senator elect, Juliana Stratton, ran openly on new leadership and won. So did Troy Jackson in Maine. The newest members of this caucus are telling you what voters want. I hope you will stand with them. Because the leadership vote is by secret ballot, I’m also asking you to say publicly where you stand.