1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

Vote for Chris Van Hollen as Senate Majority Leader when Democrats cast their secret ballot in early December. The midterms sent a clear message, and Van Hollen is right: meeting this moment requires new leadership, not a return to the status quo. Chuck Schumer has led the caucus since 2017, but his decision not to take a harder line against President Trump during the 2025 government funding fight cost him the trust of the Democratic base. Senators Bernie Sanders, Peggy Flanagan, and Abdul El-Sayed have already said they want change. El-Sayed put it plainly: "If all we do is kind of go back to what we've been doing in a moment where we've been given a mandate, I worry that we may not earn our mandate." That concern is exactly right. Democrats now have 55 seats, possibly 56. That majority is too important to hand to a leader who has already shown he will flinch. Van Hollen has the backbone and the vision this moment demands. Vote for him.