[As Democrats prepare for an uncertain future under a second Trump administration, the party’s search for a new leader to help rebuild also remains unsettled. The process of choosing a new Democratic National Committee chair kicked off this weekend, with eight candidates participating in the first party-run forum of the race. With three weeks to go before the February 1 election, no candidate has locked up support from a majority of the 448 party insiders who will choose the next party leader.
The chair race marks the first major decision Democrats will make after facing disastrous losses in last year’s general election. The contest to lead the party, and the various unofficial forums and small group meetings that preceded Saturday’s event, have become a space for Democrats to hash out what went wrong, how to reach the voters who abandoned the party in November, and how the millions of dollars spent in lost swing states might have been better used.
The current field of eight candidates, led by Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, is made up of figures who are not well-known nationally. For many DNC members, this is a bonus. “The vibe I get is that people are super hungry for an operative chair,” said one DNC member who is part of a state delegation. “We want workhorses.”
The DNC, which is made up of a mix of state party leaders and committee people, members of allied Democratic groups, union leaders, and at-large members appointed by the current chair, will hold three additional forums: one in Detroit on January 16 focused on the Midwest, one virtually on January 23 focused on the West, and a final in-person event in Washington, DC, on January 30, focused on the East. Saturday’s forum focused on the issues of the South.
Many DNC members are hoping to shake up not just how funds are distributed but how the party operates broadly. The last time Democrats were able to elect a DNC chair, in 2017, the party instituted major reforms to address the concerns of progressives who backed independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. This time around, candidates are being pressed on messaging to working-class voters, holding consultants accountable, and investing in state parties frustrated by the disparity between the amount of money spent in battleground states and what could have been spent to make their races more competitive.
It’s difficult to say how much support any candidate has. The DNC doesn’t publicly release its member lists, and no campaigns have released full lists of their endorsements. According to the campaigns of the leading candidates, Martin has “well over 100” endorsements, O’Malley has “60+ and counting,” New York state Sen. James Skoufis has 23 endorsements, and Wikler has declined to release numbers. In addition to Martin, Wikler, O’Malley, and Skoufis, four other candidates have gathered enough signatures to appear at the Saturday forum: former congressional candidate Quintessa Hathaway, attorney and political strategist Jason Paul, Nate Snyder, a former US Department of Homeland Security official, and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.
Martin has the deepest ties to state party leaders. In interviews, chairs who’ve endorsed him said he’s been a constant presence over the years, providing insight, aiding with fundraising, and traveling through their states with them. “One of the things I love about Ken is he shows up and is ready to do the hard work,” said Susan Swecker, the chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia. “When I say we have to focus on a 10-year strategy which rejects Southern political disinvestment, it’s not a platitude — it’s mission-critical,” Martin said. Many DNC members are hoping now is the time to shake up not just how funds are distributed but how the party operates broadly.
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