The effort has amounted to a long journey into a political box canyon — one that has come with considerable costs: Advocacy groups spent tens of millions of dollars seeking to influence senators who could not be budged. Lawmakers and staff spent countless hours writing and refining bills that could not pass Congress. Democratic leaders, including President Biden, expended significant political capital on a futile fight. And there are signs that the whole experience has contributed to disillusionment among the party’s base voters and sharpened intraparty tensions less than a year ahead of midterm elections…

The fight did pay some dividends for party leaders, though it may take years before they can fully collect. Dozens of Democrats who had been wary of eroding the filibuster — including several facing tough reelection fights, such as Sens. Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), where the filibuster threatens to be a polarizing issue — ultimately backed Schumer.

“If I would have said ‘change the rules’ back in March, I might have had half my caucus. But as people focused on voting rights, it grew and grew and grew,” Schumer said, adding that the battle got voters to engage and, in turn, pressure lawmakers.

“When people feel so much heat, they usually move in a direction to relieve that heat,” he said.