Chris Van Hollen

Chris Van Hollen is a progressive Democratic politician who was elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland in 2016. He previously was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (2003–17). After Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, Van Hollen announced that he would challenge New York Sen. Chuck Schumer for the role as majority leader in the Senate.

Van Hollen was born in Karachi, Pakistan, where his father, a career Foreign Service officer, was stationed. During his youth, Chris lived in Sri Lanka, Turkey, and India. As a high school student, he moved to the United States, where he later studied philosophy at Swarthmore College. After graduating in 1982, he attended Harvard University, from which he received a master’s degree (1985) in public policy. During this time he met his future wife, Katherine Wilkens; the couple married in 1987 and later had three children. While earning a law degree (1990) at Georgetown University, he worked as a staff member in the office of Sen. Charles (“Mac”) Mathias, a Republican from Maryland who retired in 1987. Shortly thereafter, Van Hollen went to work for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and later for Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer.

In 1990 Van Hollen passed the Maryland bar. That year he campaigned for and won a seat in the state legislature, serving for four years (1991–95) in the lower House of Delegates and then for eight years in the Senate (1995–2003). In 2002 he successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland’s Eighth District, which he represented for seven terms. As a legislator at both the state and federal levels, he took the lead in numerous environmental initiatives to protect the Chesapeake Bay and promoted gun-control legislation while otherwise advancing centrist-liberal political positions as a member of the Democratic caucus.

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In that role Van Hollen advanced to party leadership, serving as a lieutenant to House majority (and then minority) leader Nancy Pelosi and earning a reputation as a scholarly, policy-oriented progressive. As head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he became known as an adept campaign organizer and fundraiser. Both skills served him well when, in 2015, longtime U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski announced that she would not seek another term. Running for her Senate seat, Van Hollen won a tough primary campaign against fellow Democrat Donna Edwards, also a U.S. Representative, and then easily defeated his Republican opponent in the 2016 general election. Van Hollen was immediately named to head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, coordinating efforts for the 2018 electoral cycle.

Van Hollen’s bid to unseat Schumer as majority leader is a long shot, as he conceded calling himself “the underdog.” He nonetheless won the endorsement of several key figures, including Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed. Senate Democrats will vote on a new leader on December 1, 2026. Van Hollen has also been mentioned as a possible candidate in the 2028 presidential election.