Democrats Vie for Support in Race for Top Senate Job

The Democratic battle for Senate majority leader intensified on Friday as Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland put aside his presidential ambitions to push forward in his campaign to challenge Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the current leader, and lined up supporters.

Appearing at a Democratic event in Denver on the future of the party, Mr. Van Hollen, who announced his challenge on Thursday night, said that he had ruled out a presidential run in 2028 after the sweeping Democratic wins on Nov. 3. Some Democrats had suggested that Mr. Van Hollen was jumping into the majority leader contest to raise his visibility and court progressive voters ahead of 2028, but he said that was not the case.

“I believe that the size and scale of these majorities provides an opportunity for the United States Senate to answer the call of the American people,” Mr. Van Hollen said in disclosing that he was no longer pursuing a White House bid. “I think this is a really important moment for our country, and that we can’t go back to business as usual in the United States Senate.”

He also gained some public backing from senators who will decide the contest, even as he acknowledged he was the “underdog” in the race against Mr. Schumer, who was a key architect and funder of the successful Democratic effort to retake the Senate and has led Democrats there since 2016.

Senator Jeff Merkley, the Oregon Democrat in line to be chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said he was supporting Mr. Van Hollen, posting on social media that he had seen him “rally support for the people against the powerful time and time again.”

Also endorsing Mr. Van Hollen on social media was Peggy Flanagan, the senator-elect from Minnesota, who wrote that Mr. Van Hollen “is the leader and fighter we need to bring about real change.” She was among the newly elected members who had campaigned on calls for a leadership change.