[Democrats will choose their next national party chair and leadership team on Saturday, closing out a monthslong debate over who is best suited to help the party rebrand and guide it through the next four years of the Trump administration. Three candidates have emerged as top contenders to lead the Democratic National Committee: Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
The election of new party leaders comes as Democrats have grappled with the most effective way to challenge the torrent of action spurred by the Trump White House. Those seeking the party’s top job signaled that, without a national leader, Democrats had not addressed what some called the “chaos” of the last several days with enough force.
The next chair will be tasked with helping guide the party forward as it looks to rebound from stinging losses last November. In addition to fundraising and messaging, the chair will also help steer the 2028 nominating process and create a campaign-in-waiting for the eventual Democratic nominee. They will also need to unite the committee and address several internal issues, including anger over a wave of layoffs last year, demands for increased transparency around budgets and spending, and frustration with campaign consultants.
The three frontrunners have released dozens of endorsements from key Democrats, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is not expected to endorse a candidate in the race, but has spoken with the three leading candidates and pledged to work closely with the winning candidate.
The next chair will need to address several internal issues, including anger over a wave of layoffs last year, demands for increased transparency around budgets and spending, and frustration with campaign consultants. State party leaders, particularly in non-battleground states, have pushed chair candidates to vow to invest more in their states and rank-and-file members have called for a more democratized process to access exclusive committees made up of appointees.
The race is expected to be close, with no candidate appearing to have enough support to win on the first ballot. Several DNC members said they expect the race will move to additional rounds of voting. As of Friday, the three leading candidates were claiming to have levels of support that, if added together, would far surpass the number of actual voting members.
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