Democrats choose political operator from Minnesota as next leader

OXON HILL, Md. – The Democratic National Committee on Saturday elected Ken Martin as its chair, tapping a low-profile political insider from Minnesota to guide the party forward after its crushing defeats last fall.

Martin, 51, triumphed in a 75-day contest that turned less on why Democrats lost to President Donald Trump for a second time than on internal relationships and mechanics in the 448-member Democratic National Committee.

The committee raises tens of millions of dollars every year and can help set the tone of the party. It provides infrastructure and financial support for down-ballot candidates in off years before building an operation for a presidential nominee.

Martin captured the position on the strength of his yearslong relationships with party members, whose affection he won by promising to focus more on their concerns than past leaders have.

In his victory speech, Martin touched on a theme that Democrats hit throughout the weekend – that Trump was aligned with his billionaire supporters rather than with the American people.

“Are we on the side of the robber baron, the ultrawealthy billionaire, the oil and gas polluter, the union buster?” Martin asked. “Or are we on the side of the American working family, the small-business owner, the farmer, the immigrant and the students?”

He described the early days of the Trump administration as “what happens when amateur hour meets demolition derby.”

Martin defeated seven other candidates, including his top rival, Ben Wikler, the energetic chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Wikler’s base of support came from the party’s biggest donors and institutional players in Washington, including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker.

Martin won comfortably, with 246.5 votes to Wikler’s 134.5.

Late Friday, Wikler disclosed that his financial backers had included billionaire Reid Hoffman and George Soros’ political action committee, both of which gave him $250,000.

Martin inherits a diminished party whose brand has suffered from its losses in 2024. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University showed that just 31% of voters viewed the Democratic Party favorably, a record low, while 43% saw the Republican Party favorably, more than ever before. And in the past four years, during President Joe Biden’s term and the tenure of the previous DNC chair, Jaime Harrison, Democrats have lost control of the White House, the Senate and the House.

Although Martin portrayed himself as a disrupter who would upend the DNC’s long-standing relationships with Washington consultants, he was, in fact, the race’s party insider. He founded, and for years has led, the organization of Democratic state chairs, an alternate power center within the party. The group, which has often pushed for more money for state parties, emerged as an annoyance – or worse – to top DNC officials in Washington who were more focused on winning national elections than on local politics.

The vote came after a day of in-person jockeying at the same convention center in National Harbor, Maryland, that has traditionally hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference. Wikler and Martin had sponsored hospitality suites, and hosted kickoff drinks and small bites for supporters.

Martin will take over a party apparatus with stable finances after its defeat to Trump in November but without an obvious national leader or a consistent message to voters. When Trump ascended to the White House eight years ago, angry Democrats marched in the streets by the millions, flooding campaigns and liberal causes with donations meant to push back against the administration.

That is not the case this time.

Still, throughout the campaign for party chair, Martin and Wikler insisted that little was wrong with Democrats’ overall message: that they are the party of working people while Trump and Republicans align with billionaire moguls.

During a final candidate forum Thursday in Washington, Wikler drew rousing applause for defending former Vice President Kamala Harris’ performance as a candidate. Martin also argued that Democrats did not need to change their message to voters.

“Anyone saying we need to start over with a new message is wrong,” he said. “We got the right message.”

Other candidates included former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who entered Saturday in a distant third among DNC members who had publicly declared their support. He received 44 votes.

Faiz Shakir, who was the campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential bid, made a late entry into the race with an argument that the existing candidates were engaging in small-ball thinking. He won only two votes.

As is typical for DNC elections, the race also attracted a few gadflies, including Marianne Williamson, the two-time presidential candidate. They were allowed to participate in the party’s online and in-person candidate forums and to deliver speeches to the national committee members who gathered Saturday at a hotel in the Maryland suburbs of the nation’s capital.

But, by and large, they added little to the party’s discussion about how to proceed. Williamson ended up endorsing Martin in her nominating speech Saturday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.