Fight Club (U.S. Senate)

The Senate Fight Club was founded to combat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Kirsten Gillibrand's 2026 midterm elections strategy. According to Vanity Fair, the club was also founded to press Congressional Democrats to oppose President Donald Trump more aggressively.^[2]

The New York Times writes that "The 'Fight Club' senators generally lean left of their Democratic peers in Congress, but their differences are less over ideology and more about attitude and political combativeness. They worry that leadership is using a dated playbook and risks dampening the party's energy and desire for new kinds of candidates."^[1] They believe that Schumer and Gillibrand's backing of "safe" and "establishment" candidates is the wrong choice for their party. The Fight Club's strategy is to back more populist candidates for the U.S. Senate. Its first move was endorsing Peggy Flanagan in the 2026 United States Senate election in Minnesota over Angie Craig,^[1] who reportedly had the private backing of the Democratic Senate leadership.^[4] Flanagan won the primary.^[5]

Members (alphabetically left to right)

The Fight Club is composed of seven Democratic senators and one Independent.

• Martin Heinrich, (D-NM) (2013–present)
• Ed Markey, (D-MA) (2013–present)
• Jeff Merkley, (D-OR) (2009–present)
• Chris Murphy, (D-CT) (2013–present)
• Bernie Sanders, (I-VT) (2007–present)
• Tina Smith, (D-MN) (2018–present)
• Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD) (2017–present)
• Elizabeth Warren, (D-MA) (2013–present)

Suggested members (alphabetically left to right)

Suggested members include :^[6]

• Abdul El-Sayed, democratic nominee for Michigan
• Peggy Flanagan, democratic nominee for Minnesota
• Troy Jackson, democratic nominee for Maine
• Juliana Stratton, democratic nominee for Illinois

• Squad (U.S. Congress)