Democratic Leader in Senate Can’t Recruit Campaign Manager for 2018

Schumer AP
Warner Todd Huston

The Democrats’ leader in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer, is having trouble finding a fellow Senator to run the caucus’ election campaign in 2018.

Schumer, who will soon take his place as the Minority Leader in a GOP-run Senate, needs a fellow Senator to run the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to Politico. The chairman is supposed to help elect new Democratic Senators by raising campaign funds, recruiting good candidates and setting the strategy 

But that is likely a thankless job, because only one GOP Senator is in much danger of losing his seat in 2018, while 10 of 25 Democratic Senators up for election in 2018 are based in states where Hillary Clinton lost by large or landslide margins.

Schumer’s choices seem to be dwindling as a number of candidates have already taken themselves out of the running. Reportedly Chris Van Hollen (D, MD), Cory Booker (D, NJ), Al Franken (D, MN), Chris Coons (D, DE), and Jeanne Shaheen (D, NH) each have already removed themselves from consideration.

Making matters stickier for Schumer, Democrats Patty Murray (Washington State) and Dick Durbin (Illinois) are preparing to slug it out for the Senate Minority Leadership’s number two position, a spot Durbin already holds.

According to a grim assessment by the Washington Post, Democrats have fallen to a low of only five states where they control both the legislature and the governor’s mansion. Meanwhile, Republicans control the state governments of fully 25 states and have mixed control over another 19. Republicans now have more control over state legislatures than they’ve had since the 1920s.

Senate Democrats aren’t the only ones having trouble figuring out how to fix their leadership woes. House Democrats also recently postponed their vote for leadership for the upcoming session of Congress.

House Democrats had scheduled a vote to return California Democrat and current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to her role as their leader. But by Tuesday, Democrats decided to postpone their vote, leading many to speculate that Pelosi, who has held the role through years of declining Democrat influence, may be on the outs with her fellows.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.

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