As the 2026 midterm elections approach, a new wave of Democratic Senate hopefuls is openly challenging the party’s traditional power structure, signaling a dramatic shift in the party’s internal dynamics and raising questions about the future of its leadership. At the heart of the storm is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose once-solid grip on his caucus is being tested by a growing chorus of insurgent candidates and dissatisfied voters across the country.
The story began to unfold in February 2025, when Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow informed the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) of her intention to run for an open U.S. Senate seat. According to NBC News, the DSCC responded by asking her to "wait a little longer," a move described by one source as "slow-walking" her campaign plans. But McMorrow, undeterred, launched her campaign in early April, blasting what she called "the same old crap in Washington" and pointing to polls showing the Democratic Party’s approval rating at an all-time low. "We need new leaders," McMorrow declared in her launch video. "Because the same people in D.C. who got us into this mess are not going to be the ones to get us out of it."
McMorrow’s defiance wasn’t an isolated event—it marked the start of a broader trend. Across at least five key states, Democratic Senate primaries have become crowded battlegrounds, with outsider candidates challenging the preferences of party leaders and, in many cases, directly targeting Schumer’s leadership. The DSCC, for its part, has so far remained officially neutral in these contests, with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the committee’s chair, refusing to rule out future endorsements. As Sen. Adam Schiff, a DSCC vice chair, told NBC News, "The DSCC general inclination is to let the local parties and voters make those decisions, unless there’s a candidate who’s clearly not viable. But I think we’re going to have a set of strong challengers all over the country."
This hands-off approach is a marked change from previous cycles, when party leaders often worked behind the scenes to steer donors and support toward preferred candidates. Now, that strategy is running into stiff resistance. In Michigan, McMorrow and her main Democratic rivals—Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive physician Abdul El-Sayed—have all expressed reluctance or outright refusal to support Schumer as Democratic leader. El-Sayed summed up the mood in a recent interview: "I understand that I’m sometimes not the ‘capital D’ Democratic Party’s favorite. But I’m listening to the people and they’re telling me, ‘Abdul, it shouldn’t be this hard and you’re the only one showing up and telling us how you want to fix it.’"
The anti-Schumer sentiment is not confined to Michigan. According to POLITICO, in Maine, four Democratic candidates—Graham Platner, Daira Smith Rodriguez, Tucker Favreau, and Natasha Alcala—have pledged not to support Schumer as leader, while three others have refused to commit. Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran who’s made a splash on social media, put it bluntly: "People want new Senate leadership more than they want a new senator." Rodriguez, who launched her campaign just last week, echoed this view: "I appreciate that Schumer is standing up now, we need someone who’s going to keep standing up."
Similar dynamics are playing out in Iowa, where Democratic candidates Nathan Sage and state Sen. Zach Wahls have both rejected Schumer’s leadership. Sage was unequivocal when asked by POLITICO if he’d back Schumer: "Hell no. It’s about damn time he seems like he’s starting to fight for us, but it’s almost too late at this point." Wahls, for his part, stated, "My opponents—on both sides of the aisle—seem all too happy to defer to an old guard that has failed our state. Not me. It’s time for new leadership." The field in Iowa also includes military veteran Nathan Sage, Des Moines School Board Chairwoman Jackie Norris, and state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian who recently received an endorsement from former rival J.D. Scholten.
The pattern repeats elsewhere. In Texas, state Rep. James Talarico is challenging former Rep. Colin Allred, who lost a Senate race to GOP Sen. Ted Cruz last year. In Illinois, the three leading Democrats vying to succeed Schumer’s retiring No. 2 are keeping their options open regarding leadership support. Even in traditionally blue states like Minnesota and New Hampshire, prominent Democratic candidates are declining to commit to supporting Schumer.
Schumer’s leadership woes come at a time of deep dissatisfaction within the Democratic base. A national poll conducted by The Associated Press in September 2025 found the Democratic Party’s favorable rating at just 34%, with 53% viewing the party unfavorably. Only 69% of Democrats saw their party in a favorable light, and a mere 19% of independents said the same. As one Democratic strategist told NBC News, "The establishment is the least popular it’s been in my career—two decades." Veteran strategist Mike Nellis added, "To me, primaries are good… We should stop being afraid of a little bit of Democratic infighting. Democrats are going to have to figure out who we are and what we stand for."
Schumer’s recent actions haven’t helped his standing among would-be Senate colleagues. As reported by POLITICO, he’s taken a more aggressive stance in the latest government shutdown fight, demanding that Republicans negotiate on a funding patch and insisting that any measure include an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. When President Donald Trump canceled a planned meeting with Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on September 23, Schumer told reporters, "By refusing to even sit down with Democrats, Donald Trump is causing the shutdown." Yet, this hard-line approach has not lessened the heat from within his own party.
Indeed, a POLITICO survey of 19 major Democratic Senate candidates found none endorsed Schumer for leader; 11 said they would not support him and eight were noncommittal, even as nearly all said they’d follow him in opposing GOP efforts to keep the government open. The resistance is so pronounced that support for Schumer has become an early litmus test in many Democratic primaries, with some candidates openly weaponizing his unpopularity against their rivals.
Despite these headwinds, Schumer still holds some advantages. Many of the Democrats publicly repudiating his leadership are unlikely to advance out of their primaries, and others who are noncommittal could ultimately back him. History is also on his side: In the 2018 midterms, a wave of Democratic House candidates rejected Nancy Pelosi for leader, and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema said she would not vote for Schumer. Both Pelosi and Schumer retained their posts the following year, and no one has run against Schumer since he took over from Harry Reid in 2017. As POLITICO notes, Schumer would only need a simple majority of his caucus to retain his position.
Party leaders have notched some recruiting wins, uniting behind former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina and bringing former Sen. Sherrod Brown back into the fold in Ohio. But the broader picture is one of a party in flux, struggling to define its identity and leadership in the wake of recent electoral setbacks and a restless base.
As Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told NBC News, "There are definitely elements to this moment that remind me of the conditions that existed in the country—and the general sentiment and mood—when I was elected. These are conditions that an outside candidacy could have the most momentum."
For now, the rebellion against Schumer’s leadership continues unabated, reflecting a party at a crossroads. Whether this unrest will lead to new leadership or simply fizzle out, as similar movements have in the past, remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the Democratic Party’s path to the Senate majority in 2026 will be anything but predictable.