Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan declined on Saturday to rule out challenging Senator Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader, becoming the first sitting senator to publicly float a bid against the longtime Democratic leader days after the party's midterm sweep.
"I'm not ruling anything out," Slotkin said at Crooked Con, a post-midterms Democratic conference in Washington. "I've been very vocal that we need a new generation of leadership. We couldn't have gotten a clearer signal than Tuesday."
Slotkin set a test for Schumer: he must present a plan for the first 100 days of the new Democratic majority. "If you can't produce that, I'm not voting for you," she said, adding that Democrats should not give Schumer quorum until he answers their concerns.
She stopped short of declaring a candidacy and has not asked colleagues for their votes, but her remarks put the leadership question in the open. Senate Democrats will hold leadership elections next month, before the 120th Congress begins on January 3, 2027.
Slotkin is not alone in withholding support. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland also declined to back Schumer at the same event, and five newly elected Democratic senators have said they will oppose him in the closed-door leadership vote. The mention of Schumer's name drew boos and jeers from the conference crowd throughout the day.
Schumer, 75, has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and remains the heavy favorite to keep the job. He needs only a simple majority of a Democratic caucus projected to hold 54 to 56 seats, and The New York Times reported on November 7 that he had secured commitments of support from enough Democratic senators to win. In an interview with the Times published Friday, Schumer said he did not expect to face any opposition.
Still, the open skepticism marks a generational fault line in the party. A Senate Democratic leader election has not been contested since 1994, and Slotkin told the audience she wants "a new generation of leadership that does something different with the expression of power."
