Progressive group calls for Senate Dems to replace Schumer as leader

The progressive group Indivisible called for Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday to replace Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) as Democratic leader after the party secured control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“Yesterday, voters made it very clear that they want a new generation of Democratic fighters,” the group wrote in a social media post . “We need a leader in the Senate who is capable of leading that fight. It’s time for Senate Democrats to choose new leadership.”

The group cited the Democratic leader’s faltering approval ratings in its Wednesday statement. An NBC News poll conducted at the end of October found only 13 percent of registered voters viewed Schumer’s leadership positively.

“The American people did not elect Democrats by historic margins just to bend the knee and go back to business as usual,” Indivisible said in its statement. “Senate Democrats need to listen to the voters and turn the page on status quo politics.”

During a speech Wednesday morning, Schumer celebrated the Democrats’ wins in Senate races as “a generational remake of the Senate map that has huge consequences for history.”

Unfortunately for Schumer, it could also portend bleak consequences for his own future in Democratic leadership.

Newly elected Senate Democrats in Michigan , Kansas , Illinois and Maine have all publicly stated they would not back Schumer as majority leader next term.

Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D) told Louisiana-based magazine Current Affairs in May that Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was his “number one pick for majority leader.”

At a campaign rally in July after the Maryland senator endorsed him , El-Sayed introduced Van Hollen as the “ next Senate majority leader .”

Other new Democratic senators have stayed quiet on how they might cast their votes in the upcoming leadership fight.

Sen.-elect James Talarico (D), who pulled off a major victory for his party in the Texas Senate race, declined to commit to supporting Schumer for majority leader in a September interview with Punchbowl News , telling the outlet his party needs “new blood” in Washington.

Similarly, New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas (D), who won the state’s open Senate race Tuesday, declined to commit to backing Schumer in a September interview with MS NOW’s Peter Alexander. He emphasized a need for “new voices in leadership.”