Chuck Schumer is confident he’ll continue leading Senate Democrats after they captured the chamber’s majority in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. Not all Democrats are so sure.

During a post-election gathering Saturday in Washington, DC, two Senate Democrats — Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan — declined to back Schumer for the job, and Slotkin said she would not rule out running herself. A third Senate Democrat who appeared at the conference, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, said he planned to support Schumer but echoed calls for Senate Democrats “to do things differently than we’ve done before.�

“There should be no coronation of the next Democratic leader,� Van Hollen said. “I’ve said very clearly that we need to have a discussion in the Democratic caucus, we need to understand what the Democrats are going to do with this new responsibility and these new powers, and nobody should get a blank check without a full understanding of the caucus as to where we’re going to go.�

Van Hollen said he has urged Democratic colleagues to “withhold commitments� until Schumer outlines his vision. And Slotkin said Democrats should not give Schumer quorum — the minimum attendance required to conduct Senate business — until he answers their concerns.

Schumer remains a heavy favorite to become majority leader. He has no declared opposition and needs to win only majority support from Senate Democrats, whose ranks are poised to grow to at least 54 seats after Tuesday’s elections.

But Saturday’s comments showed how even Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories could not paper over their long-simmering disagreements about who is best to lead them. That debate may be especially elevated among Senate Democrats looking at potentially running for president in 2028, a group that includes Van Hollen, Slotkin and Kelly.

In addition to the reservations among the returning Senate Democrats, several incoming freshmen have vowed not to back Schumer for leader or at least withheld their support for now. Scott Colom, the Democrat in a Senate race in Mississippi that remains too close to call, has also been noncommittal on Schumer, calling for more geographic diversity among party leadership.

In an interview with The New York Times that published Friday, Schumer said he did not expect to face any opposition.

“Our caucus is focused on moving forward,� Schumer told the newspaper’s “The Daily� podcast. “Everyone’s very happy with what we all did.�

Several Senate Democrats have already said Schumer has earned his right to return as their leader after the better-than-expected outcomes in Senate races. Kelly added his name to that list Saturday.

“Chuck worked really hard to get this majority, so my plan is to support him,� Kelly told reporters after his appearance at the post-midterms summit, Crooked Con.

Slotkin struck a different tone as she addressed the conference, which booed and jeered at the mention of Schumer’s name throughout the day.

“If he wants to be majority leader, what is your plan for the first 100 days?� she said. “How are you going to do things differently so that Democrats get their sh*t together? If you can’t produce that, I’m not voting for you.�

Asked whether she would run for the top job, Slotkin said it was “an open field, and I think those conversations are happening rapidly.�

“I’m not ruling anything out,� she said.

Van Hollen, for his part, suggested he was unlikely to run, even though at least one incoming freshman — Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan — has said he could support him. Van Hollen told CNN on Saturday that running for majority leader was “not my focus� and that he was instead weighing a 2028 presidential campaign. He said he has not heard “directly� from Schumer since the midterms but expected to speak to him in the coming week.

Slotkin, who has long called for a “new generation of leadership,� said she hopes incoming freshmen follow the example she set in her first House run in 2018. She campaigned promising not to support Nancy Pelosi for House speaker — and followed through when she voted present in the speaker’s election in January 2019.

“These people who just won in tough places, I think, will have a hard time, both as leaders but also just as politicians, going back on their word as their first thing that they do,� she said.

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Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign is suing the state of Alaska to obtain access to records for absentee ballots that were rejected by the Alaska Division of Elections, a new court filing shows.

Peltola’s campaign said they previously requested records of the rejected ballots on multiple occasions but were denied access.

“Plaintiff cannot ensure that its voters’ lawful votes were properly counted without knowing whose absentee ballots were rejected or questioned, and why,� the lawsuit reads. “Each hour and each day that Defendants deny Plaintiff the requested records to which it is entitled costs Plaintiff the opportunity to help ensure that qualified voters have their ballots counted.�

Peltola currently leads Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) in the Alaska U.S. Senate race by just over 600 votes, but with approximately 30 percent of the vote still outstanding, according to The Hill's partner Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ). No winner has been projected in the race as of Saturday morning.

The Division responded in a release on Friday, saying voters who have had their ballots rejected have not yet had access to the information, therefore, the campaign should not be able to have access yet either.

“Alaska’s constitution and laws do not require the Division to provide this information in the manner requested by the campaign. Releasing preliminary information in the manner sought by the lawsuit would create additional burdens during ballot processing and could delay the timely counting of votes,� the release said.

The Alaska Senate race has already been the subject of litigation after the Trump administration sued to block certification of the election if Sullivan loses, arguing that the presence of a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. could confuse voters. A judge dismissed that lawsuit ahead of Election Day, but the administration vowed to appeal.

The vote count in Alaska will continue for several more days, as ballots in Alaska can arrive up to 15 days after the election if they came from outside the country, so long as they are postmarked by Election Day. 

More votes in Alaska do not have to be reported until Nov. 10, but may be reported incrementally before then. Final votes must be reported by Nov. 18. 

If no candidate has greater than 50 percent of the vote by that point — no candidate currently does — the state will run an instant runoff using ranked choice voting. The tabulation eliminates the last-place candidate and redistributes their voters’ second, third and fourth-choice preferences. The process repeats until a candidate has a majority.

If Peltola wins the Senate race, it would be the eighth flip for Democrats in the Senate after a strong performance on Tuesday night.

Votes are also still being counted in the Mississippi Senate contest where Democrat Scott Colom leads the incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Israel's president on Saturday chose Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest rival, to try to form a new government following a deadlocked election that left neither man with a clear path to power.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is fighting ‌to stay in office after his religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in an October 27 election but still emerged as the ‌largest bloc in parliament.

Eisenkot, a former military chief, has declined to join forces with Arab parties, whose support would give him a majority of seats in parliament. But Arab leaders, incensed ​by what they view as the racist policies of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, still nominated Eisenkot to try to form a government first — giving him the most endorsements.

"President Herzog has invited Gadi Eisenkot to the President’s Residence, where he will be tasked with forming the government tomorrow," said the spokesperson of President Isaac Herzog, whose largely ceremonial role involves nominating a candidate to form a coalition after elections.

In a post on X, Eisenkot wrote, "Now is the time ‌to form a national emergency government. I will do �everything I can to ensure we are worthy."

EISENKOT FACES LONG-SHOT BID TO FORM GOVERNMENT

Weeks of protracted negotiations are expected to follow Eisenkot's nomination. He has 28 days to try to forge a government, with a possible 14-day extension.

His potential �pathways to power include trying to form a minority government with Arab party votes on key issues; forming a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties that he and his allies have shunned in the past; or forging a unity government with Netanyahu.

Analysts say that all three options are unlikely to take shape. If Eisenkot fails, another ​candidate ​can try to form a government and if that candidate fails, parliament can nominate ​another. There is a deadline for the process of around ‌100 days. If no one succeeds, another election is held.

Likud won the most seats of any single party with 27 in the 120-seat Knesset, but Netanyahu's wider religious-nationalist coalition garnered only 53 in total, short of a 61-seat majority.

Eisenkot's Yashar party emerged as the second-largest party with 21 seats, while his coalition, spanning four centre-left to right-wing Jewish-led parties, won just 48 seats. Two parties representing Israel's Arab minority won an unprecedented 19 seats.

EISENKOT CRITICAL OF SETTLER VIOLENCE

A son of Moroccan immigrants, Eisenkot, 66, would be the country's first prime minister from Israel's Mizrahi community, Jews who trace their roots ‌to the Middle East and North Africa.

Reserved and media-shy, Eisenkot only entered politics in ​2022. He briefly served in Netanyahu's wartime cabinet following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on ​Israel before returning to the opposition.

From opposition, he publicly rebuked Netanyahu ​over his leadership, including his management of the military campaign in Gaza, and has sworn that he would not ‌serve in government with him.

Eisenkot's public standing is also bound ​up with the personal price his family has ​paid since 2023: a son and two nephews were killed fighting in Gaza.

Eisenkot highlighted his security credentials on the campaign trail, citing his "Dahiyeh doctrine" of responding to attacks with disproportionate force, which he deployed as a commander during Israel's 2006 war with Iran-backed Hezbollah in ​Lebanon.

Eisenkot has criticised settler violence against Palestinians, which has ‌surged since 2023, raising tensions in Israel’s ties with Western states, and he opposes Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners Itamar Ben-Gvir and ​Bezalel Smotrich, who have both faced sanctions by some Western countries for inciting violence against Palestinians.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray, Menna Alaa ​El Din and Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Timothy Heritage)