WASHINGTON — Arizona’s Democratic U.S. senators, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, say they plan to support New York Sen. Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader over his progressive challenger, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Arizona Mirror reported.
Both senators pointed the Mirror to recent public comments on the leadership race, which will help set the tone for how Democrats use their new majority in Congress.
“Look, Chuck and I have had our differences,” Gallego said at a Democratic leadership news conference this week. “But at the end of the day, these are historic numbers. It’s time for us to unify.” He added, “I think we have the person that’s going to lead us there.”
Kelly told Politico he would also back Schumer and expects him to win the post. “He worked really hard to get this majority, he raised an enormous amount of money,” Kelly said.
Van Hollen has pushed a more aggressive approach, arguing Democrats should be willing to shut down the government to defund the Iran war. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and several incoming progressive senators have backed him.
Schumer has led Senate Democrats since 2017. Some in his party criticized him for not taking a harder line against the Trump administration during the 2025 budget fight.
Separately, Gallego told KJZZ that universal child care should be a top priority for the next Congress. He said he is still weighing whether to run for president in 2028.
Sources: Arizona Mirror, KJZZ. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
