Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer : “It’s a dramatic change in the Senate. 50 was great. 51 is even better.”

 "People understood that the Republican Party was not the Republican Party of 10 or 15 years ago. It had become a MAGA party, and frankly, one of our successes in messaging was calling it the MAGA party," Schumer told MSNBC's Chris Hayes in an interview Wednesday. 

"This party rejects Democracy, this party doesn't really tell the truth … they never have any solutions at all," he said, explaining that independent and Republican-leaning voters ultimately supported Democrats, helping the party overcome historic trends.

Schumer's re-election puts two New Yorkers at the top of the Democratic leadership in Congress, alongside Rep. Hakeem Jefferies, the incoming House minority leader. Jeffries was elected to lead Democrats after Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to step aside next year.

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* Now that the midterm elections are over, Senate Democrats unanimously re-elected Majority Leader Chuck Schumer this morning. The rest of the leadership team will remain largely unchanged, except Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the current assistant Democratic leader, will soon serve as president pro tem, succeeding retiring Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont.

* Speaking of leadership races, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington was also re-elected this morning to another term as chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

* In the wake of Herschel Walker’s failed campaign in Georgia, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yesterday said she considers it “extremely insulting“ that the former Senate candidate didn’t invite her to campaign with him more.

* The Washington Post took a look at Sen. Rick Scott’s predictions regarding the midterm elections and found that the Florida Republican’s forecasts “were almost entirely wrong.”

* Derrick Evans was a Republican state legislator in West Virginia who participated in the Jan. 6 attack. He also admitted his role in the insurrectionist violence and served a federal prison sentence. Politico reported that he’s now moving forward with a GOP congressional campaign.

* Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas took the unusual step this week of acknowledging that Donald Trump “may have hurt“ the party’s chances in some 2022 races.

* On a related note, Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota said this morning that he hopes that the GOP will have “other options” than Trump in the 2024 presidential race.