Fri. November 13, 2026
CHICAGO, ILL. -
Since Democrats won back a Senate majority in last week’s midterm elections, as the politics guy in my circles, my phone has been blowing up with variations of the same message: "Who is Chris Van Hollen, why is he trying to replace Chuck Schumer, and where does he stand on queer issues?"
The reason he is suddenly all over your feed is that on November 12, the Maryland Democrat officially announced he is challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer to become the next Senate Majority Leader. With Senate Democrats set to hold a closed-door, secret-ballot leadership election in early December, the race has kicked off a major debate over the direction of the party—and what it means for our community.
What does the Senate majority leader actually do?
Before getting into the personalities, it helps to know why this inside-the-Beltway job matters so much to everyday queer life. As legislative guides from Ballotpedia and the National Conference of State Legislatures outline, the majority leader serves as the chief strategist, negotiator, and lead floor speaker for the party in power.
More importantly, the majority leader controls the Senate’s daily legislative calendar. In practical terms, that person decides which bills ever reach the Senate floor for debate and a vote, recommends committee assignments, and works with party whips to line up the votes needed to pass legislation.
Even if a pro-LGBTQ bill has broad public support, it cannot pass the Senate unless the majority leader schedules it.
Who is Chris Van Hollen?
Chris Van Hollen is a 67-year-old Democratic U.S. Senator from Maryland who has spent more than three decades in elected office. Born in 1959 in Karachi, Pakistan, to American parents working for the Foreign Service and the State Department, he spent much of his childhood living abroad before earning degrees from Swarthmore College, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Georgetown University Law Center.
After serving in both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly from 1991 to 2003, Van Hollen spent 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Maryland’s 8th Congressional District (2003–2017). He won his U.S. Senate seat in 2016 and was re-elected in 2022. While Van Hollen was once a member of House Democratic leadership, he has shifted into a noticeably more progressive lane during his Senate tenure.
The debate over replacing Chuck Schumer
Because this is the first contested race for Senate Democratic leader since 1994, senators and political observers are divided over whether it is time for a change at the top. Van Hollen and his backers, including progressive advocacy groups, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and incoming Michigan Sen. Abdul El-Sayed, argue that last week’s election results reflected an anti-establishment desire for generational and strategic change after Schumer’s decade leading the caucus.
Critics have also faulted Schumer for not taking a more confrontational stance against the Trump administration during past government funding fights.
Announcing his bid, Van Hollen made his pitch directly, stating, “In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption. To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn't about any one person – it’s about answering that call. That's why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
On the other side, many Democratic senators are sticking with Schumer. His defenders point out that Schumer recruited candidates, raised substantial campaign funds, and led Senate Democrats through a cycle that yielded a 55-seat majority. Schumer has also been meeting one-on-one with Democratic senators to pitch a "first 100 days" legislative agenda focused on healthcare, tariffs, and lowering costs for working families.
Where Van Hollen stands on LGBTQ issues
For LGBTQ readers watching this leadership fight unfold, Van Hollen brings a long, documented legislative record on queer and trans rights.
On federal nondiscrimination protections, he is a longtime cosponsor of the Equality Act, federal legislation that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly ban discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodations, and federally funded programs.
His record on marriage and tax equality includes voting in 2022 for the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages.
He has also repeatedly cosponsored the Refund Equality Act, originally introduced as part of the PRIDE Act and reintroduced in the 119th Congress, to ensure legally married same-sex couples receive equal tax treatment and can amend past joint federal tax returns.
When it comes to transgender healthcare and rights, Van Hollen voted against the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in opposition to provisions that restricted gender-affirming medical care coverage.
In an August 2026 interview with the Washington Blade, he spoke out against political attacks on trans Americans, stating, "Familiarity is incredibly important, and at the heart of this is something very simple: that transgender people want to live their lives in peace, like everyone else, and that's a value I think Americans share across party lines."
Additionally, during his time in Congress, Van Hollen supported reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with provisions expanding support services for LGBT survivors of domestic violence, and he has consistently voted against federal judicial nominees flagged by civil rights organizations for anti-LGBTQ records.
When Democratic senators cast their secret ballots in early December, they won’t just be picking a spokesperson for cable news. Whoever walks out of that room as the next Senate Majority Leader will hold the keys to the Senate calendar in 2027, deciding whether long-stalled priorities like the Equality Act finally get a floor vote or remain stuck on the sidelines.
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