Schumer lands his prized Senate recruits in key battlegrounds
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has successfully recruited several prominent democratic candidates in key battleground states for teh upcoming 2026 midterm elections, raising hopes that Democrats could regain control of the Senate despite a challenging electoral map. Recent notable recruits include Maine Governor Janet Mills, who launched her Senate campaign against Republican susan Collins, former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and former Ohio senator Sherrod Brown. Schumer is also courting former Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola for a run against senator Dan Sullivan.
Despite these recruitments, Democrats face significant hurdles: flipping vulnerable Republican seats in ohio, Maine, and North Carolina, defending competitive Democratic seats, and navigating divisive primaries. additionally, Schumer’s choice of seasoned, older candidates aligned with the party establishment has drawn criticism from younger progressives who seek more vigorous opposition to Republicans under Trump’s renewed influence.
Janet Mills’s candidacy exemplifies this generational divide within the Democratic Party, as younger Democrats challenge her in the primary. Mills would become the oldest freshman senator if elected and has pledged to serve only one term. While party leaders like Senate Minority Whip Dick durbin praise Mills’s capabilities, some challengers and activists criticize the party’s support for her campaign structure.
Schumer’s recruitment efforts have bolstered Democratic prospects but also highlight internal party tensions and the substantial challenges the Democrats face in their bid to retake the senate.
Schumer lands his prized Senate recruits in key battlegrounds
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is on a winning streak after securing a trio of recruitment wins in battleground states, raising expectations among Democrats that the party can reclaim the majority despite a midterm map with long odds.
The Senate campaign launch on Tuesday by Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) marked the latest seasoned political veteran Schumer has recruited in recent months, following the likes of former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown announcing Senate runs in their respective states.
“You got to give credit for some good recruiting on their side,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the chairman of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm for the 2024 elections, told the Washington Examiner. “And credit for some good recruiting on our side, as well.”
Schumer, who’s had a rocky relationship with the party’s base since President Donald Trump moved back into the Oval Office, is looking to land what would be his fourth recruit for the 2026 midterm elections in Alaska with former congresswoman Mary Peltola to take on Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
But even with the recruits, Democrats will need virtually everything to go their way to take back the upper chamber that Republicans control 53-47. There are also several divisive primaries on the horizon. Flipping Ohio, Maine, and North Carolina — the most vulnerable GOP-held seats — and successfully defending battleground blue seats in Michigan, Georgia, and New Hampshire would still leave a 50-50 Senate in Republican control with Vice President JD Vance as the tiebreaker.
Schumer’s recruits, all longtime politicians favored by the party’s more establishment wing, face their own challenges in rallying Democratic voters who have prodded Schumer to show greater resistance to Republicans under Trump 2.0.
The campaign by Mills, 77, tees up a generational clash in a crowded primary that includes three prominent challengers each decades younger. Brewery owner Dan Kleban is 48, former congressional chief of staff Jordan Wood is 35, and military veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), is 41.
Mills’s candidacy also reaffirms a trend this cycle of national Democrats relying on an older string of candidates to carry the party’s long-shot quest to retake the Senate.
Mills would be 79 if she takes office, making her the oldest freshman senator in U.S. history. She’s pledged to only serve one term. If elected and sworn in, Cooper will be 69, and Brown will be 74.
“I’m not sure it’s the age that matters. I think what matters is they’ve been around so long,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. “It’s more that they’re perceived by young progressives as part of a political establishment they don’t like very much. That is a problem Mills is going to have to cope with.”
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), 80, is not seeking reelection next year and will retire at the end of a 30-year Senate career in early 2027. Durbin stopped short of endorsing Mills in a brief interview with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, but heaped praise on whom he called a “talented” and “gutsy” politician.
“I think that’ll be a good way to start the campaign,” Durbin said. “It’s an interesting primary. I don’t know how tough it is… But I would say that she is certainly a credible, thoughtful, and persuasive candidate.”
As for the party leadership’s support of Mills, Platner took issue with Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, already teaming up with her to form a joint fundraising committee that will allow the two to raise and spend money together, as well as secure cheaper ad rates.
“Chuck Schumer should be focused on fighting Donald Trump and protecting healthcare for millions of Americans, not meddling in a Maine primary,” Platner posted. “DC’s choice has lost to Susan Collins five times in a row. We can’t afford a sixth.”
Democrats and Republicans have largely cleared the primary fields in North Carolina, with Democrats coalescing around Cooper and the GOP around former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. Democrats are behind Brown in taking on Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) and Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) to replace retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Republicans are squarely behind former Congressman Mike Rogers in Michigan to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
Messy primaries await Democrats in Michigan and Maine, while Republicans face the same fate in Georgia to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
JANET MILLS’ MAINE SENATE RUN SETS UP GENERATIONAL CLASH AMONG DEMOCRATS
In Maine, Schumer faces perhaps his longest, unsuccessful quest to stop one of the Republicans’ most centrist senators from securing a sixth consecutive term. Collins’s narrowest margin of victory occurred in 1996, her first Senate election, against Democrat Joseph Brennan. She won by a little more than five points.
“Democrats always put hope in the fact they can beat Susan, and they don’t even get that close,” Daines said.
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