Brian Schatz racks up support to succeed Dick Durbin as the No. 2 Senate Democrat

WASHINGTON — The leadership election to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin as the No. 2 Democrat in the chamber is a year and a half away, but Sen. Brian Schatz is already racking up endorsements.

Since Durbin, 80, of Illinois, announced last week that he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026, Schatz, 52, of Hawaii, has been aggressively working behind the scenes to consolidate support for the post of Senate Democratic whip, having key allies speak to colleagues and securing at least eight endorsements.

Others could still jump in the race to be Democrats’ top vote-counter. Amy Klobuchar, 64, of Minnesota, a former presidential candidate who is the No. 3 Senate Democrat, hasn’t closed the door on a potential bid. And others have floated Patty Murray, 74, of Washington, who has held various leadership roles over the years and is now the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

But Schatz hopes getting a head start will give him a leg up against other potential rivals, with the election to replace Durbin not taking place until after the 2026 midterms. He has received early endorsements from Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who have been speaking to other members about supporting him.  

“Right now, we’re doing the work and I’m continuing conversations with members,” Schatz said in an interview Thursday. “I just have a view that when you realize you want to run, you just get started.”

Other Democrats backing Schatz’s candidacy are John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania; Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, both of New Mexico; Raphael Warnock, of Georgia; and Mazie Hirono, who represents Hawaii alongside Schatz.

“I support Brian Schatz,” Lujan said in an interview Thursday. “Brian has been working in this capacity as a deputy whip for as long as I’ve been in the U.S. Senate. He shares information, he’s honest with members, and in my opinion he’s earned the trust of colleagues, as well. He’s also a good person; he’s an honest person. I think he’s a strong member of the Senate.

“No one else has reached out to me yet,” Lujan added. “That sounds to me like he has broad support across the way, and I think that’s encouraging.”

In a statement, Warnock called Schatz an “effective leader.”

“I’m confident that as Whip, he will continue his work unifying our caucus and advancing our shared priorities,” Warnock said.

The whip’s role is predominantly to take the pulse of the senators in the caucus, making sure leadership knows how each plans to vote to avoid embarrassing mishaps of the floor in which bills or nominations could fail unexpectedly with razor-thin margins.

The race is also critical because the winner could ultimately be elevated to Democratic leader in just a few short years. The current leader, Chuck Schumer, of New York, is 74 and has served in leadership for the past two decades. Schumer will need to decide whether he’s running for re-election in 2028 as he faces heat from the liberal base and younger Democrats call for generational change.

Leadership elections are held behind closed doors and by secret ballot. To win a position, a senator needs to secure support from a simple majority of Senate Democrats.

Schatz would be leapfrogging a number of Democrats in the leadership hierarchy if he were to win; he’s now the chief deputy whip under Durbin, as well as the deputy Democratic conference secretary.

If he wins, it would also continue the trend of not having a woman in either of the top two leadership posts of the Senate Democratic Caucus. Catherine Cortez Masto, of Nevada, who is in leadership as vice chair of outreach, hasn’t endorsed anyone for the No. 2 position yet. But she said it’s important for Democrats to have women in some of the top leadership posts.

“Listen, we’re going to have time as a party to take a look at that,” Cortez Masto said Thursday. “But I think there should be women in leadership positions at all levels.”

Klobuchar, chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, is the highest-ranking woman in the party’s Senate leadership. She wouldn’t engage on whether she would run for the whip job, saying it was too early to talk about the race. But she was quick to point out that she’s technically next in line.

“I’m No. 3 in the Senate, and my job is to focus on what policies are going to move our country forward,” Klobuchar said.

“I am focused on one thing right now, and that is taking on Donald Trump and gaining a better economy for the people of this country,” she added. “And I truly believe that talking about something a year and a half from now and we have no idea who’s going to win the Senate, who’s going to get this, is a mistake.”

Schatz, a former lieutenant governor of Hawaii, succeeded Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, after his death in 2012 and made a name for himself nationally by turning to social media to bash Trump during his first term.

Schatz, notably, was one of only 10 Democrats who voted for a GOP bill to keep the government funded to avoid a shutdown this year, a move that drew sharp criticism from progressives.

His chief of staff, Reema Dodin, was previously Durbin’s floor director in his whip office and a Biden administration official.

Durbin, who has been in Congress since 1982 and Senate Democratic whip for the past two decades, said he has no plans to back anyone.

“I don’t have any plans of endorsing, because I won’t be voting in that race,” he said.

Asked what characteristics he thinks the next whip should have, Durbin joked, “To try to emulate Dick Durbin’s energy.”

In a floor speech Monday, Schumer praised Durbin, his longtime deputy, onetime political rival for the top leadership post and former Capitol Hill roommate.

“Sen. Durbin has left an indelible mark on the Senate, on our caucus, on Illinois and on all of America. He’s been a champion for justice and helped Senate Democrats confirm a record number of federal judges last Congress,” Schumer said. “He’s been a tireless advocate for Illinois’ families and people in need. And he’s been a close and trusted member of my leadership team.”

Asked by reporters Thursday whether he will endorse someone to replace Durbin, Schumer laughed and sidestepped the question: “Dick Durbin has been a great, great whip.”