As House Dems barrel toward a speakership coronation, Senate Democrats are getting their first contested race for leader in over 30 years.

🤺 Why it matters: Democrats have spent years tearing themselves apart over the party's direction — without forcing their leaders to win a head-to-head vote.

• Senate Democrats will get that fight this year for the first time since Tom Daschle vs. Chris Dodd in 1994 — courtesy of Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) challenging Chuck Schumer.
• But no one's challenging Hakeem Jeffries for speaker. The last contested Democratic House leader race was in 2016, when Tim Ryan failed to beat Nancy Pelosi for minority leader.

☎️ Between the lines: House Democrats are being bombarded with calls and emails urging them to oppose Jeffries, but the two most frequently floated alternatives — Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) — don't appear to want the job.

• Raskin told us that chairing the Judiciary Committee is his "dream job" and that he's "absolutely ... not a candidate for speaker in any way."
• "I am supporting Hakeem and voting for Hakeem," Raskin added.
• Pressley has privately told colleagues she isn't interested, multiple House Democrats told us.

🤬 The big picture: Since the last contested Democratic leadership election, Republicans have endured the rise of MAGA, former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell's fall from power and a revolving door of House GOP leaders.

• In 2018, Kevin McCarthy drubbed Jim Jordan 159–43 to become House minority leader.
• In 2022, McConnell had to beat Rick Scott after the Florida Republican challenged him for Senate GOP leader.
• In 2023, McCarthy needed 15 ballots to become speaker and was ousted later that year. Republicans burned through nominations on Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan before settling on Mike Johnson.
• In 2024, John Thune had to beat two challengers — Rick Scott and John Cornyn — to succeed McConnell as Senate GOP leader.
• In 2026, Jim Jordan ... well, you know what happened. It was Tuesday.

🧏🏻 The intrigue: Van Hollen told reporters in Denver today he's stopped "pursuing" a 2028 presidential bid because the "size and scale of these majorities provides an opportunity for the United States Senate to answer the call with the American people."

• Van Hollen is up to five public votes (himself included) ahead of the Dec. 1 secret ballot. Schumer's at 14. The winner will need 29.

Over in the House, the real question at this point feels like whether any House Democrats will oppose Jeffries on the House floor on Jan. 3.

• Jeffries has enjoyed unanimous support from his caucus since becoming leader in 2022 and is "confident that we're on a positive trajectory" but takes "nothing for granted," he told reporters yesterday.

🎭 The bottom line: For once it's the Senate, not the House, providing all the drama on Capitol Hill.

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— Andrew Solender, Stef Kight and Justin Green

The number of split-party Senate delegations is on track to triple in January, leaving senators to make up fast after a cycle that became deeply personal.

🥩 Why it matters: Personal beefs can make it harder to coordinate on home state priorities, funding and judges.

• In South Carolina, Sen. Tim Scott (R) repeatedly referred to Sen.-elect Annie Andrews (D) as "tranny Annie" on the campaign trail. Her victory marks the first time in decades that an NRSC chair has lost a GOP seat in their home state.
• In Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz (R) called Sen.-elect James Talarico (D) a "very weird dude" and even spent some of his super PAC cash against him.
• Scott and Andrews spoke over the phone two days after the election. Cruz and Talarico also spoke over the phone since the election.

😡 In Ohio, the bad blood between Sen. Bernie Moreno (R) and Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown (D) is the stuff of legends.

• As of Election Day, they hadn't spoken or been in the same room together.
• After a fraught 2024 election full of mudslinging, Brown never directly conceded to Moreno. Moreno has spent much of the past few months mocking Brown's decision to run again, calling him a "loser" and saying he just "needs to find a job."
• Moreno congratulated Brown on his victory last week on X.

Between the lines: Not every incoming senator has beef with their state's sitting senator.

• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) talks extensively in her book about her friendship with Mary Peltola, who is currently leading Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), though the race has not been called.
• Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (D-Kan.) has promised to work with Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.): "I want to be his best friend in Washington," Hamilton told NPR.

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— Stef Kight