KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Senator-elect Adam Hamilton (D - Kansas) said Sunday he's supportive of "fresh and new ideas" as Democrats seek to identify the Senate Majority leader after voters across the country gave the party control of the Senate.
Hamilton made the remarks during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press.
Watch: Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton calls for 'fresh, new ideas' for Senate leadership
"What I'd be looking for is a leader who can lead from the center, somebody who can bring Republicans and Democrats together, somebody who can bring the various factions in the Democratic party together, somebody with fresh ideas," Hamilton said. "So again, no disrespect for Chuck Schumer. It feels like it is a time for fresh and new ideas and somebody who can unite us instead of dividing us."
Hamilton said he is still getting to know his future colleagues in the Senate. Less than a week ago, he became the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Kansas in nearly 100 years when he knocked off Republican incumbent Roger Marshall.
"I'm not at a place where I can tell you this is my short list," Hamilton said. "There are a handful of people that I think probably, you know, lead more from the center, but I don't know enough yet to be able to say, these are the people I would endorse."
One thing Hamilton said he wouldn't endorse is a strict focus on investigating Trump.
"If I spent the next two years, my first two years in the Senate in investigations, I'd be deeply disappointed," Hamilton said, saying he wants to get to work helping Kansans and those across the country.
"So what I'm interested in is: Yes, let's get guardrails put in place so that we don't see these kinds of things happen again, but let's focus on helping the American people," he said. "If we don't figure that out and get to work on helping people, this is going to be a one-on-done kind of, you know, blue wave."
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