Dem
53
Ties
2
GOP
45
Chuck Schumer may have a problem next year—and it is not the potential career-ending primary challenge from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). If the Democrats win the Senate and they pick Schumer as their leader (which is not 100% certain since several Democratic Senate candidates may not vote for him), Democratic voters will expect him to get things done in Congress and he will be in charge of herding the cats. The problem is that at least half a dozen of the Democratic senators are likely 2028 presidential candidates and will all want to grandstand and showboat and won't fall in line doing what he wants.
Democratic Senators who are likely presidential (or vice presidential) candidates include the following (with a list of states they have recently visited):
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) has mostly stayed in Georgia campaigning, but he is surely aware of his potential as a candidate and his potential firsts. Just as John Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected (at 43) and first Catholic president, Ossoff would be the youngest president ever (at 41, beating Theodore Roosevelt, who became president at 42 when William McKinley was assassinated) and first Jewish president.
In addition to Schumer's problem getting all these guys to walk the party line on everything, he could also have a practical problem. If eight of his members are out barnstorming the country all the time, they will miss votes—and Republicans will force as many votes as possible, since few of their caucus members are likely to run for president. Actually getting 51 senators on the floor for votes regularly could be tricky, even if there are 52 or 53 or even 54 Democratic senators. (V)