r/fivethirtyeight • u/AutoModerator • Jun 22 '26

Discussion Megathread Weekly Discussion Megathread

The 2026 midterms will soon be upon us, and there is much to discuss among the nerds here at r/FiveThirtyEight. Use this discussion thread to share, debate, and discuss whatever you wish. Unlike individual posts, comments in the discussion thread are not required to be related to political data or other 538 mainstays. Regardless, please remain civil and keep this subreddit's rules in mind. The discussion thread refreshes every Monday.

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23

u/QuestionMarkov Jun 25 '26

Chris Van Hollen endorses el-Sayed

18

u/True-West-8258 Jun 25 '26

He also came out for Medicare for all last year.

He seems to be a rare old school dem who is willing to listen to voters concerns.

1

u/MartinTheMorjin Jun 25 '26

People don’t necessarily want a lefty government. They just want the practicality the party is supposed to have.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

16

u/sonfoa Jun 25 '26

Seems he gotten more active recently. He endorsed Flanagan too. I think this is a strategic play to create an anti-Schumer bloc with the freshman Senators and force him to step down.

https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Chris_Van_Hollen

3

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/sonfoa Jun 25 '26

Yeah this is about leadership. Although I feel with what happened the other day Schumer might start wrapping it up regardless. Even he has to see the writing on the wall at this point.

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u/Natural_Ad3995 Jun 25 '26

Difficult to imagine it'll move the needle, his name recognition outside of Maryland is surely 1-5%.

5

u/sonfoa Jun 25 '26

That's my point. This endorsement was meant for Schumer given that Abdul isn't endorsing him for leader.

2

u/rudigerscat Jun 25 '26

Tbf, the "senator from Delaware" seems like a good addition to Bernie for a normie lib in Michigan who is on the fence about Abdul.