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Reid Backs N.Y.'s Schumer To Succeed Him As Senate Democratic Leader

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Reid said today that he won't seek re-election in 2016, adding he wants Schumer to succed him as the Democratic leader in the Senate.
Molly Riley
/
AP
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Reid said today that he won't seek re-election in 2016, adding he wants Schumer to succed him as the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has announced that he won't seek re-election in 2016, says he is backing Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate's No. 3 Democrat, to succeed him in the leadership position.

"He [Schumer] will be elected to replace me in 22 months," he told Nevada Public Radio. "One reason that will happen is because I want him to be my replacement."

Separately, Reid told The Washington Post that Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, would stand down in place of Schumer.

"Harry is one of the best human beings I've ever met," Schumer said in statement quoted by the Post. "His character and fundamental decency are at the core of why he's been such a successful and beloved leader. He's so respected by our caucus for his strength, his legislative acumen, his honesty and his determination."

For more on this story, please visit our It's All Politics blog.

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Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.
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