Moments like this come once in a generation. What Senate Democrats do in the next few weeks will decide whether it changes anything.

On November 3, voters flipped seven Senate seats, from Texas to Kansas to South Carolina, and handed Democrats the majority. Progressive champions who won primaries in Michigan, Maine, Illinois and Minnesota ran on taking on corporate power. They won. This was not a routine midterm. It was a turning point.

Now comes the decision that will define it. In a closed-door vote in early December, Senate Democrats will elect their Majority Leader. That one choice will set the agenda, the strategy and the level of courage of the Senate for the next two years. If the caucus defaults to the leadership that has run it since 2017, this wave will fade into business as usual.

We cannot let that happen. This pivotal moment demands a Senate that wins universal health care, abolishes ICE and ends the genocide in Palestine. It demands a leader with the courage to lead that fight. That leader is Chris Van Hollen.

Why this moment is pivotal

• The window is weeks, not years. Once the caucus votes in December, the direction of the Senate is locked in through 2028. There is no second chance at this choice.
• A new generation just arrived. Senators-elect from Maine, Kansas, Michigan and Illinois say they will not back the current leader. Incoming senators from Minnesota and New Hampshire want new leadership. Michigan's senator-elect, backed by the UAW and the Working Families Party, has named Van Hollen.
• The next two years decide what comes after. A Democratic Senate will face budget showdowns, nominations and oversight of this administration. How it fights now will shape the country heading into 2028.
• Families cannot afford a wasted majority. ACA tax credits expired this year. Medicaid has been gutted. Rent, groceries and health care keep climbing. A majority that plays it safe will not meet this crisis.

Why Chris Van Hollen, and why now

• He has already stepped up in this moment. When others rushed to rubber-stamp the status quo, he said the choice of leader should not be automatic and demanded real commitments first.
• He supports Medicare for All.
• He has been one of the Senate’s most outspoken critics of U.S. military support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, pushing to condition U.S. weapons on respect for human rights and the flow of humanitarian aid.
• When the administration wrongly deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a notorious Salvadoran prison in 2025, Van Hollen flew to El Salvador himself to fight for his return.
• He takes on corporate power. He is pushing an aggressive kitchen table agenda and insists Democrats say what they are for, not just what they are against.
• He has moral courage. He has been one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of U.S. support for Israel's assault on Gaza, even when it meant breaking with party leaders.

Our ask: Senator Van Hollen, history does not wait for the right time. It asks people to rise when the moment comes. This is that moment. Announce your candidacy for Senate Majority Leader before the December caucus vote. Bring a progressive plan. Make your colleagues choose.

Sign and share this petition now. Years from now, people will ask what we did when the door opened. Let the answer be that we refused to let it close.