Chris Van Hollen, Jr. was born January 10, 1959, in Karachi, Pakistan. He graduated from the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1982, Van Hollen graduated from Swarthmore College and earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1985. Van Hollen served in the Maryland General Assembly from 1991 to 2003, first in the House of Delegates and then in the State Senate. Chris Van Hollen was first elected to Congress in 2002 and serves as the Chair of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee.

Chris Van Hollen announced he would run for the seat of retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski.