Key facts
- Adam Hamilton, senator-elect from Kansas, told CNN on the campaign trail he would not support Schumer as party leader.
- James Talarico, Juliana Stratton, Chris Pappas, Peggy Flanagan and Troy Jackson also declined to support Schumer, the report said.
- Schumer, 75, has led Senate Democrats since 2017 and was running uncontested as of November 6.
- Democrats secured a majority in both the House and Senate, the report said.
Several incoming Democratic senators have declined to support Chuck Schumer as the party's next majority leader in the US Senate, even as Schumer said he expects to keep the post.
Annie Andrews, the Democratic senator-elect from South Carolina, told Fox News's Bret Baier on November 5 that the party needs new leadership. Asked whether she would support Schumer's bid, she said: "I still very much believe it's time for generational change on both sides of the aisle."
Adam Hamilton, the senator-elect from Kansas, told CNN on the campaign trail that he would not support Schumer as the party's leader. Hamilton, the first Democrat to win a Kansas Senate seat in 94 years, had pitched himself as independent from the Democratic party.
Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect from Michigan, again declined on CNN on November 5 to support Schumer as majority leader and said he wanted to consider other options. The report said James Talarico of Texas, Juliana Stratton of Illinois, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota and Troy Jackson of Maine had also declined to support him.
Schumer, 75, has served as the Democrats' leader in the Senate since 2017. He told reporters on November 4: "I'll be re-elected as majority leader." He was running uncontested as of the afternoon of November 6, with no other Senate Democrat having officially entered the race, and the report said he likely has enough votes within his caucus to win.
Schumer also told reporters: "The issue is not me ... the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want." After securing a majority in both the House and Senate, Democrats will enter a new Congress able to push back on Donald Trump's administration and pass legislation they promised voters, the report said.